Union Budget 2021 Expectations from Innovative Startups

With Union Budget 2021 is just a few days ahead of us, industry representations are coming forward and sharing their demands perspective and observations for consideration for the Budget document. 

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With Union Budget 2021 is just a few days ahead of us, industry representations are coming forward and sharing their demands perspective and observations for consideration for the Budget document.
Here are some quotes from innovative tech-driven innovative startups.
Mr. Shubhradeep Nandi, CEO & Co-Founder, Pihchain Labs:
 
"There is a need to integrate technology-driven startups in its action plan to boost the financial wellbeing of Rural India. This year’s Budget gives us hope of better regulation for the startups dedicated to Bharat Finclusion, which will help in attracting more foreign investment. We believe that an increase in expenditure to further the financial accessibility to unbanked & underbanked is crucial at this juncture, and India, currently, is lagging. Bharat needs equal, easy, and affordable access to quality financial products customized and built for Rural India.   
 
As far as taxes are concerned, today, the GST we are paying is as high as 18 percent. But, in the upcoming Budget, we hope that this is corrected, given the increasing importance of financial wellness becoming a lifestyle as opposed to a vanity metric. The provisions drafted must require no major changes for at least five years. This would reduce the compliance burden on startups and make management easier.
 
Wherever needed, corrective changes need to be made to make implementation easier"
 
About PiChain Labs is a Fintech platform that provides onboarding & KYC solutions by harnessing the power of AI & Blockchain which helps Banks, NBFCs, Insurance Firms, Fintech, AMFs & other financial institutions. 

 
Mr. Rajesh Panda, CEO & Founder, Corporate Gurukul:
 
"I am expecting an Education budget allocation at 5.5%-6% which will easily be in excess of Rs 110,000 crores in 2021-22. The impetus and increase can be attributed to two primary factors:
 
Implementation of NEP 2020
 
Post COVID digitization initiatives in education
New focus areas of NEP 2020 such as AI, design thinking, internships, vocation skills, etc. in schools and universities will need substantial investment in infrastructure and teacher training. The establishment of research-focused universities, if taken up in the fiscal year will add to the budget. The initiative to have primary education in mother tongue will also need a significant amount of resources and teacher training.

 
Post COVID digitization efforts will be humongous, if the government wants to strategize and implement to transform education in next 5 years in lines with NEP 2020. Digitalization in education will also mean quality and standardized content and delivery across the nation – a crucial factor for success of new initiatives under NEP 2020".
 
About Corporate Gurukul: Headquartered in Bengaluru, Corporate Gurukul provides an opportunity for students where they can pursue Online Certified Internships and Experiential OnCampus at School and University level. The organization has adopted the ‘Gurukul’ system which helps students to identify their purpose and passion to express their full potential. It also uses hands-on applied learning and real-world research to enhance their knowledge and skills.



 
By Mr. Kailashnath Adhikari, Managing Director, Governance Now - A Sri Adhikari Brothers (SAB) Enterprise:
 
"Budget 2021 is looked upon with a great deal of expectations as it is the budget right post the pandemic induced year. The industry will look forward to a great deal of measures being announced to boost demand. Measures taken to boost demand will lead to increased consumption which in turn will aid revival of the economy. The BFSI sector has faced great headwinds due to the pandemic. The sector will certainly look forward to measures which will help them raise capital and measures which will augment their process of capital lending. Revival of consumer sentiment will help banks & financial institutions improve their personal lending portfolio. As far as corporate India is concerned any incentive measures which will help them make further investment will be directly related to enchanted corporate lending by the BFSI sector. The sector will certainly look forward to incentives being announced which will ease their process of lending"
 
About SRI ADHIKARI BROTHERS (SAB GROUP) is a major Media and Entertainment conglomerate in India. They are into every verticals of media like Broadcasting, Content Production, Digital, VFX , Studios, and News and Currents Affairs. They have recently completed 40 years in the field of media.  

 
By Mr.Yogesh Makkar, CEO, Kapdec Inc  

 

The year 2020 had an insurmountable impact on the education systems and on learners. Despite a surge in online education, a vast majority of the student population remained at a disadvantage. At a macro level, a nation with more than 1.5 million schools, more than 280 million students, with over 65% of the student population in rural areas, and more than 50% of the student population in government schools, those specific groups had by far experienced the worst and negative impact. Reasons cited were the lack of quality resources and lack of schools' preparedness to face such unprecedented times. Much needed is special attention to divert a larger proportion of funds, schemes, government-backed programs to flow into the K-12 segment, supporting the school eco-system or the entrepreneurs supporting education. Our expectations from the budget remain focused in the following key aspects, the strengthen the basic infrastructure for the schools of new era:-  

  1. Digital Infrastructure:  Equip government-led schools with the access and affordability of high-speed internet and computers or tablet devices for lower-income groups. Investing in online education models can be a smarter way of increasing outreach to millions of students in a short period.  

  1. Government Policies: Much needed is the reduction of the unnecessary compliances to make it easier for innovators and entrepreneurs to establish businesses, helping grow the economy and education system. Including reduction of taxes on educational services.

  1.  Funding:  Supporting and helping 1.5 million schools is a task that requires strong input from ed-tech entrepreneurs, focusing more on the innovation in education delivery methods. However, often new start-ups are cash striven and help from government backed funding programs will fuel the growth cycle. 

 
About Kapdec: a leading online portal aiming to deliver high-quality supplemental education at the least expense in Mathematics and other non-medical sciences today to assist every student to learn Mathematics without the agony of confusion. It empowers students to accomplish his/her full potential in just the solace and security of their homes. 

We have been covering this from the past few weeks and will continue to do this coverage for another few weeks. However, once the budget is announced we will explain the budget and then cover the industry feedback on post-budget. so, we request all the industry stakeholders to connect with us on post-budget feedback as well.
Union Budget 2021 Pihchain Labs Sri Adhikari Brothers (SAB)