Industry Continues to Express Budget Demands

Here are some budget expectations from the IT industry,

Mr. K G. Prabhu, CFO – DIGISOL Systems ltd says:

"Players in the IT Industry are excited about Union Budget 2019-20 as this will be the current government’s last budget before the general election. Expectations from IT sector is bit high as the ruling government has been focusing on making India a digitally empowered country since 2015 and has undertaken many initiatives in order to implement the vision. For the year 2019, we are bullish that the union budget will focus more on Smart cities and Digital India initiative in order to shape the IT infrastructure and increase adoption of technology to encourage digitization."

Representing Nanotechnology Domain, Mr. Akshay Singhal, Founder, Log 9 Materials  says:

"Electric mobility is extremely important for India however the adoption has been rather slow due to high cost of vehicles and challenges with daily use. This high cost is primarily driven by imports of technology and components for these vehicles. India needs to develop its own indigenous technologies which are better suited for the Indian ecosystem. Current Li-Ion technology for electric vehicles is a big strategic disadvantage for India as it does not have any reserves of Lithium or cobalt. Hence, today instead of being dependent on imports for petroleum, India is headed towards dependence on other nations for Lithium and cobalt in future. It is commendable that significant steps have been taken towards indigenous manufacturing of li-ion batteries in India, but it is vital from a strategic standpoint to stress and allocate funds for indigenous development of energy technologies better suited for the Indian climate and ecosystem. One such technology is Aluminium-air batteries which not only gives you long driving range without the need for huge charging infrastructure but is also powered by Aluminium. India is the third largest producer of Aluminium in the world. Further, it is our expectation that nanotechnology is given a boost by setting up grant schemes for start-ups which are coming up with innovative technologies for future readiness."

Representing online marketplace venture focusing on intercity goods transport, Mr. Siddharth Jain, Co-Founder, Vaahika demanded from the finance minister by mentioning:

"The seamless highway is the need of the hour, to make logistics more efficient and profitable. It is understood that the government has been looking for solutions to reduce traffic snarls on highways; which has now become a major hassle for transporters. It is very much expected that the government should share a detailed outline or implementation vision on 'Toll-plaza free" seamless highways in this budget. It is also expected that the government will address the need of one nation - one permit in this budget; which has been suggested by the Logistics committee as well."

Coming from an artificial intelligence based patient care coordination platform—Jiyyo, Mr. Siddharth Angrish, Founder of Jiyyo.com stated:

"The Modi government has shown good interest in an upcoming startup with initiatives like Startup India & Digital India. Startup India has been quite a success.  As an entrepreneur, I am expecting more and easy funding opportunities for startup growth in India from the 2019 budget. Also, we hope that start up's are given more relaxation in GST and decreased regulatory interferences while applying for various tenders."