(L-R): Shri Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, GoI; Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, GoI
The budget 2021-22 – presented under the webbing shadows of COVID-19 pandemic – looks to be beneficial directly and indirectly to the growth and development of the IT industry in India, where hundreds of technology vendors and channel entities – including distributors, VARs and solution partners – address the market cutting across sectors and verticals.
The budget heavily intends to make India into a self-reliant (AatmaNirbhar) country, putting huge focus on developing indigenous products & solutions for literally every sector of the economy – be it primary, secondary or tertiary sector. Now, for achieving the goal of self-reliance, the government heavily harps on the efficacy of automation, where IT & OT tools and applications are increasingly being used to streamline the involved processes. The impacts of the budgetary allocations for the macro-economic as well as micro-economic fundamentals can be quite palpable.
Presenting the Union Budget 2021-22, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Government of India (GoI) said that the budget proposals would further strengthen the determination (sankalp) of the nation first, doubling farmer’s income, strong infrastructure, healthy India, good governance, opportunities for youth, education for All, women empowerment, and inclusive development among others.
Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, GoI, with her team: Radiating confidence and optimism all around
The Budget proposals for 2021-22 broadly covers six areas including health and wellbeing; physical & financial capital, and infrastructure; inclusive development for aspirational India; reinvigorating human capital; innovation and R&D; and minimum government and maximum governance.
Notable Fundamentals
If we talk of the healthcare sector, the budget generously allocates Rs 2,23,846 Crore, which is an increase of 137 percentage over the previous budget estimates. For the COVID-19 inflicted country, these budgetary allocations mean a lot.
This has also been announced that a new centrally sponsored scheme, PM AatmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, would be introduced with an outlay of about Rs 64, 180 crore over six years. This will develop capacities of primary, secondary. The budget announcement talks of setting up of integrated public health labs in all districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states. The budget also plans to establishment of critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions.
The other sector that has got larger budgetary infusion of funds is infrastructure sector. Under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat program – targeted at 13 sectors – the government has committed nearly Rs 1.97 Lakh Crore in the next five years starting FY 2021-22. This initiative will help bring scale and size in key sectors, create and nurture global champions and provide jobs to our youth.
At the same time, to augment road infrastructure, more economic corridors are also being planned. The Finance Minister has also provided an enhanced outlay of Rs. 1,18,101 Lakh Crore for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, of which Rs.1,08,230 crore is for capital, the highest ever.
With respect to uplifting the overall condition of the power sector, the Finance Minister has proposed to launch a revamped reforms-based result-linked power distribution sector scheme with an outlay of Rs. 3,05,984 Crore over five years. The scheme will provide assistance to DISCOMS for Infrastructure creation including pre-paid smart metering and feeder separation and upgradation of systems.
Education is another area, which has got massive focus in this budget. While, the National Education Policy (NEP) announced recently has got strong governmental support, the Finance Minister has announced that 100 new Sainik Schools – with partnership with NGOs, private schools and states – would be set up in the country.
She has announced the set up of the National Research Foundation (NRF) for which a corpus of Rs. 50,000 Crore has been established over five years. It will ensure that the overall research ecosystem of the country is strengthened with focus on identified national-priority thrust areas. The government would undertake a new initiative – National Language Translation Mission (NTLM). This would make governance-and-policy related knowledge available on the Internet in major Indian languages.
So, all these steps taken by the GoI would add further depth to the Indian economy, and is sure to buoy the IT market as most of the verticals make use of automation, where IT products & systems go into running the shows. Overall the budget 2021-22 looks good for the IT industry here in India.
The six pillars of the Union Budget 2021 add enormous value to the economic relief post the pandemic issues and paint a futuristic picture for the new year. It has managed to address some of the key issues around Atmanirbhar Bharat, education and Digital India that presents significant business opportunities for global corporates such as Lenovo. With the PLI scheme announced along with the increased focus on ‘Make in India’ in this budget, we are confident that it will encourage local manufacturing, and further bolster the local PC market. Lenovo will also support the government in enriching India’s economy, by boosting digital infrastructure in the field of education and additional focus on promoting inclusive development. The national education policy also creates an opportunity to build the Indian EdTech ecosystem to make it best across the globe for research & innovation, and empowers the citizens to scale up their skills.
Rahul Agarwal
CEO & Managing Director
Lenovo India
I’m happy to see the Union Budget 2021 is a forward-looking one, with massive spend commitment by the government across many sectors combined with large divestment and monetisation, along with the privatisation of two public banks and one insurance company. This is a great trajectory for banking in India. Also, the increase in FDI in insurance to 74 percent with management control will help in attracting FDI from the world, further boosting the economy. I’m particularly excited about the government’s commitment to set aside an outlay of INR 50000 Cr for the National Research Foundation, the setting up of a new Fintech hub, and an allocation to incentivise digital payments. Also, as we complete 75 years of independence, the move to exempt senior citizens over 75 years from filing tax returns if they are only on pension is a great tribute to their contribution to India. The budget also had a number of bold initiatives to simplify tax processes for businesses and honest tax-payers. The extension of the tax holiday and exemption of capital gains will also enable businesses and startups to focus on growing their business. Most importantly, the proposed use of data analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, optimising the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and tax portals, is indicative of the New India of 2022. I hope this forward-looking budget will help revive India’s economy, propelling it further towards a digitally empowered tomorrow.
Rajan Navani
Vice Chairman & Managing Director
JetSynthesys
The budget has announced big-ticket projects to add to the digital capabilities with the next general census in the country being the first digital one and along with marque MCA 21 project this is likely to garner massive crown-jewel assets in terms of the sensitivity and quantity of data. As these projects are rolled out it will increase the importance of security as the government builds the tools and workflows supporting these services. These projects will need to prioritize solutions such as Zero Trust Access, automated endpoint security, users awareness training to counter a range of threats, and will also need to ensure that solutions such as software defined networking and multi-cloud services are implemented securely.
Rajesh Maurya
Regional Vice President, India & SAARC
Fortinet
The Union Budget 2021 is built on the foundation of new technologies such as Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) which will empower businesses with e-consultation, e-scrutiny, and compliance management. This is surely going to enhance enterprise cybersecurity as AI has immense potential to bring in scalable and effective defenses against sophisticated attacks like ransomware. That said, this increased penetration of digital technologies brings with it additional cyber risks that one should be vary of. As per our recent survey, with 100 percent Indian businesses being concerned about their current level of cloud security, there is a need for initiatives that promote the development of cybersecurity skillsets.
Sunil Sharma
Sunil Sharma, Managing Director, Sales
Sophos India & SAARC
The events of 2020 made it clear how reliant we are on the digital infrastructure and supply chains that underpin modern society. As India seeks continued growth and competitiveness in the global economy through budget allocations in healthcare, infrastructure, innovation and R&D amongst other areas, securing the digital infrastructure that underpins our society needs to sit at the core of every single project.
Budget allocations towards healthcare is a necessary step in our race to combat COVID-19. Tenable’s own Threat Landscape Retrospective found that in 2020, over 46 per cent of the breaches in the healthcare sector were caused by ransomware attacks, with breaches accounting for nearly eight million records exposed.
Budget allocations towards healthcare is a necessary step in our race to combat COVID-19. Tenable’s own Threat Landscape Retrospective found that in 2020, over 46 per cent of the breaches in the healthcare sector were caused by ransomware attacks, with breaches accounting for nearly eight million records exposed.
Kartik Shahani
Country Manager
Tenable India
The Union Budget presented seems to tick most boxes that India needs today post COVID-19. The promise on CAPEX should help in generating employment and also solve for long-term growth objectives. The six pillar focus will set the foundation for growth in coming years and make us better prepared for difficult situations like the COVID-19.
Some of the items that would see effect faster than others would be the FDI cap increase for Insurance, which will surely lead to a better capitalized Insurance sector and better reach of Insurance to the masses. Privatization of PSBs is a welcome move. It should help in make the banking sector more agile and oriented towards digital growth. This should lead to a few acquisitions of PSBs by private lenders.
Some of the items that would see effect faster than others would be the FDI cap increase for Insurance, which will surely lead to a better capitalized Insurance sector and better reach of Insurance to the masses. Privatization of PSBs is a welcome move. It should help in make the banking sector more agile and oriented towards digital growth. This should lead to a few acquisitions of PSBs by private lenders.
Lalit Mehta
Co-Founder & CEO
Decimal Technologies
The fiscal deficit for 2020-21 was estimated at 9.5 percent of GDP, the government’s aim is to bring it down by 5 percent of the GDP by 2025-26 which is ambitious and certainly a welcoming initiative. The highlight in this budget is the announcement of the asset reconstruction company and asset management company to help banks tackle bad loans which have been a call by economists for many years. The significance given to the investments and initiatives in the infrastructure development with a few coming under the PPP model will boost the overall development which includes increased investment opportunity from various sectors.
Shibu Paul
Vice President, International Sales
Array Networks
Considering the challenging year faced by the Indian economy, the Ministry of Finance has put up a fine balancing act. While initiatives to support digital payments are few, the budget showcases a strong intent to continue driving a less-cash ecosystem. On one hand, the Union Budget 2021 has various encouraging initiatives that will propel aspiring entrepreneurs and boost small businesses. On the other hand, it renders a lot of focus on uplifting the lower stratum of the society which includes the migrants, gig workers and farmers among others. The pandemic-induced economy has played an important role in dispelling the long-held scepticism regarding the gig workforce’s efficiency and dependability.
Anand Kumar Bajaj
Founder, MD & CEO
PayNearby
Qaisar
