Union Budget 2023 A strong foundation for a developed India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget of the Modi government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on 1 February 2023. The total size of the 2023-24 Budget stood at Rs 45.03 lakh crore - a 7.5 percent jump over the revised estimate for 2022-23 - and to help meet the gap between its income and expenditure. The Centre will borrow a record Rs 15.43 lakh crore from the market through the issuance of bonds.

 

“Currently, those with an income of Rs 5 lakhs, do not pay any income tax and I proposed to increase the rebate limit to Rs 7 lakhs in the new tax regime," the Finance Minister said while presenting the Budget. The income tax exemptions and restructuring will provide a huge relief to the middle- and lower-middle classes and help them accomplish their aspirations.

 

“This Budget hopes to build on the foundation laid in the previous Budget, and the blueprint drawn for India@100. We envision a prosperous and inclusive India, in which the fruits of development reach all regions and citizens, especially our youth, women, farmers, OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes” the Finance Minister said.

 

In the last nine 9 years, the Indian economy has increased in size from being 10th to 5th largest in the world. We have significantly improved our position as a well-governed and innovative country with a conducive environment for business as reflected in several global indices. We have made significant progress in many Sustainable Development Goals, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman added.

 

The key features of the budget are highlighting inclusive development with opportunities for citizens with focus on youth, growth and job creation, strong and stable macroeconomic environment.

 

Puneet Gupta 
vice president & managing director, NetApp India/SAARC

 

“The announcements made by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have given us a lot to be excited about. The mission of Amrit Kaal has put us in a strong position to truly call this a digital budget, given its large focus on technology and digital. 

 

From the government’s announcement of setting up of 100 5G labs and the development of 3 Centers of Excellence for AI, all of these will go a long way in unleashing the digital potential of the country. In a world that is driven by data and AI, we see numerous and infinite opportunities ahead of us. It will be a privilege for us at NetApp to play our role in building a truly digital nation which is the future of tomorrow.”

 

 

Alok Dubey 
Chief Financial Officer, Acer India

 

"The Union Budget unveiled today echoes the government's objective of "Digital Development" for the country.

 

It places a high value on technology and innovation as a whole. Realizing the vision of "Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India" is projected to strengthen the country's standing in the technology industry globally and generate numerous possibilities for the youth. The mention of lowering the minimum TDS threshold and clarifying taxability linked to online gaming is an encouraging step towards gaming industry in India, and it is expected to open up more prospects in the following year. This year's budget also has prioritised sustainability; this is a step toward a green future that allows businesses and SMEs to enter the market with green products and services; this is a commendable and promising move. Overall, the Union Budget 2023 is promising and represents a significant step toward digital transformation and a holistic sustainable growth.”

 

 

Rajiv Bhalla  
Managing Director, India & Vice President APAC, Barco      

 

“Indian economy is heading towards a bright future, the 'Saptrishi' of the Budget 2023 prioritizes on inclusive development, reaching last mile, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power. Announcement around adding 50 tourist destinations as a whole package and focusing holistically on physical as well as virtual connectivity, tourist guides, high standards for food streets and tourists’ security through an app to enhance tourist experience, is a significant step that will unlock growth and job opportunities in the sector. The Budget is perfectly aligned with Barco’s aim to make India a popular tourist destination with visible impact, allowing people to enjoy compelling entertainment experiences. Further, Budget has focused on overall growth & sustainability as India has the potential to be a world-class infrastructure centre, moving toward net zero carbon emissions by 2070 & setting up the AI based solutions in health, education, and sustainable cities will give additional push towards the extensive use of technology”.

 

 

Balaji Rao  
Area Vice President, India & SAARC, Commvault      

 

“The budget 2023 has been laid down with a future-ready outlook and highly compliments nation’s objective of innovative, technology-driven and knowledge-based economy. The increased impetus on data generation and management while ensuring privacy, security, and trust is a powerful move. The India Datasets program and the proposed National Data Governance Policy will empower academia, researchers, and start-ups with access to a large repository of India-specific dataset and is an indispensable move by the government to further propel the Digital India vision.

Furthermore, the government is pushing the agenda of upskilling to prepare for a resilient future. The framework outlined to upskill the youth with 30 Skill India International centres, will bridge the persisting digital gap and unlock a massive pipeline of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. The initiatives for telecom services and modernization of agri sector through Digital Public Infrastructure will be critical in modernizing and broadening the scope of data generation, management, and protection.

 

 

Parag Khurana  
Country Manager, Barracuda Networks India

 

“Cybersecurity has for long been a critical matter of concern, especially in light of rapid digitization. With the rollout of 5G and cloud migration, there has been a significant uptick in cyberattacks across the country. In 2022, we have seen the rise of ransomware against critical infrastructure, with education (15%), municipalities (12%), healthcare (12%), infrastructure (8%), and financial (6%) being the five key targeted industries according to research. The Union Budget announcement today paints a favourable picture for the sector with the introduction of the National Data Governance policy will help academia and start-ups gain access to anonymised data by the government.

Provisions like the establishment of three centers of excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions noting that 'Make AI in India' and to 'Make AI work for India' will support the creation of a stronger technology infrastructure in the country. This will further boost the government’s vision of ‘Digital India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. That being said, Budget 2023 amply highlights the greater focus that the government has placed on string digital infrastructure and technology at large. And, we are hopeful that today’s announcement will have an inherently positive effect on the sector.”

 

 

Arun Balasubramanian 
Vice President & Managing Director, India & South Asia, UiPath

 

“We are glad that in this year’s budget, a greater focus has been given to Digital India where technology is an enabler for the economic and overall development of the nation. For India to adopt and implement emerging technologies, a robust skilled workforce is needed. And the provision of the Skill India Digital Platform is the right step in making a highly skilled workforce. It will unify and enable demand-based formal skilling, which has been much needed to bridge the gap between academia and industry. With the Skill India Digital Platform and the proposed National Digital Library, we are confident that young Indians will have the resources to upskill in areas like AI, automation, and robotics, which will in turn make Digital India a reality. With the launch of The National Data Governance Policy, Indian users and companies can now access anonymized data, which will provide greater opportunities for innovation. These are exciting times for a tech-enabled India, and soon the country will become a talent powerhouse for the world.”

 

 

Vishak Raman 
Vice President of Sales, India, SAARC and Southeast Asia at Fortinet

 

“A steep increase of 33% in capital investments to 10 Lakh Crore almost three times the outlay made in 2019 shows why India is one of the most buoyant economies in the world. While Investments and development programs are all tech-driven the budget realises the potential of 5G by setting up 100 labs in engineering institutions to develop Apps to assist in all verticals including smart classroom, precision farming, smart transport systems and healthcare.

 

The capital flowing into AI-Startups last year was $2.7 billion globally. The race in AI is heating up after the success of ChatGPT and the budget has realised this potential with the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India. The setting up of 3 centers of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions will combine tech and computing power with some of the best engineering brain power in our country.

 

 

Piyush Somani, 
Managing Director and Chairman, ESDS Software Solution Ltd.

 

"The Union Budget 2023-24 has put a lot of emphasis on Agritech, fintech, Co-operatives and future technologies like AI, ML, IoT and etc., signaling a positive push towards technologically advanced Digital India & a greener India. The government's emphasis on digital infrastructure through 100 labs to facilitate apps employing 5G services will aid technology adoption that will help the country advance towards more digital applications like smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and healthcare in order to realize new range of options, business models, and job potential. The emphasis on the co-operative sector, Millets, agriculture sector by facilitating Agri-based rural startups certainly will improve the livelihoods of farmers, increase food security and boost exports through open-source digital public infrastructure. The national data governance policy to be released to encourage innovation and research by startups and academic institutions and will make it possible to obtain anonymous data. Overall, this budget focuses more on Capex spending from the government, while most of the technology related announcements had no budget allocated at the moment. We need to wait for next couple of months to see some budget getting allocated to the technology related initiatives."

 

 

Rajiv Srivastava  
Managing Director, Redington

 

“We welcome the progressive initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023, focusing on Artificial Intelligence, 5G, youth skilling, Green Growth, data governance, consumer empowerment, and customs duty relief for mobile phone components—all these initiatives will help intensify the focus on making India a skill capital for the world, a consumption growth economy.

The budget’s focus on green growth will have a multiplier effect on the industrial sustainability, leading to country’s goal of net-zero carbon emission by 2070. Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, one hundred labs for 5G applications in engineering institutions are very positive steps taken to spur breakthrough innovations in the field of education, agriculture, transport, and healthcare. Further, an impetus to R&D for startups and academia that utilizes data for their growth will be secured under National Data Governance Policy (NDGFP).
Overall, the first budget of Amrit Kaal lays the foundation for a developed India by providing a framework of growth and development through Skilling, Green Energy, R&D, and Technology, which will accelerate the country’s journey to becoming a $10 Trillion economy in the near future.”

 

 

Aalok Kumar, 
President and CEO, NEC Corporation India

 

"With a clear focus on inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure development and unlocking the nation's potential, the Union Budget 2023-24 is comprehensive to fast-track growth. From strengthening India’s prowess in technology and AI and being future ready to truly unleashing the potential of 5G, the budget is holistic in its approach and will certainly pave the way for tech-enabled growth for the country in the coming years. 

 

Coupled with strategic focus on building infrastructure and connectivity in sectors including transportation and aviation will have a significant impact in making India a more agile economy, and in making the daily lives of citizens more convenient and efficient. We look forward to collaborating with the government to help shape India’s digital future."

 

 

Arundhati Bhattacharya  
Chairperson & CEO Salesforce India

 

“The 2023 budget is a growth-oriented and inclusive one that lays a solid foundation and strengthens the economic outlook for India. We have a unique opportunity of being a demand-driven economy with a rapidly digitising population. The increased capital investment outlay has a multiplier effect on generation of employment opportunities and thereby better standard of living for citizens. India is the talent basket of the world and has one of the youngest populations globally; we have a tremendous opportunity to unlock the potential of the country’s young workforce. The unified Skill India Digital Platform, addresses the imperative of businesses and Government to do more to address the skills gap enabling inclusive development of talent. Promoting sustainable growth is an opportunity for India to lead and has been essential and top of mind for all leaders; the focus on ‘green growth’ across sectors can unlock new economic opportunities for India. We are proud of the progress we have made over the last few years on Digital Public Infrastructure and a significant driver to this has been the innovation in Fintech, this budget is an impetus to further accelerate this growth with investments in AI, 5G, startups and more, accelerating demand and innovation at scale.”

 

 

Rajnish Gupta  
India and Sub-Continent Lead, Zebra Technologies APAC

 

In this Union Budget, the government has set the tone to unleash both human and digital potential for the country’s socio-economic development. This is reflected from all the 7 key priorities including reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, youth power, inclusive development, unleashing the potential, green growth, and financial sector.

 

The government has shown a clear objective of raising the infrastructure development in the country as it plans to raise its capital expenditure by 33% to INR 10 trillion ($122.29 billion) in the next fiscal year. This will provide the much-needed impetus to the existing infrastructure schemes like Gatishakti, Bharatmala, Parvatmala, Sagarmala amongst others.

 

 

Dipesh Kaura, 
General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia)

 

The Indian government's growing interest in building a Technology driven Indian Economy will be a pioneering move for building world class digital structure.

In today's budget, we saw the government's major focus on Robotics, Drones, and Artificial Intelligence along with implementing a strong National Data Government Policy. This budget projects to empower the youth by focusing on new-age skills and coding. India aims to become one-stop solution and this will be a major relief for the MSME sector. During the 2023 -24 Budget, the government aims to formulate 100 labs that will be effective to develop 5G services and very evidently pictures positive growth for India.

The budget looks favorable and aims at improving the threat landscape margin in India by implementing 3 centers of excellence for Artificial intelligence. India’s growth being the highest among major economies is a powerful aspect and will definitely be able to drive the path to create a Technology driven economy.

 

 

Ashish P. Dhakan, 
MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India

 

“The Union Budget 2023-24 clearly has the visionary roadmap to put India on the path to become a $5 trillion economy. The seven priorities of the budget ‘Saptarishi’ are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector. It shows the government’s vision and missionary zeal for a developed India.

 

We welcome the growth oriented budget positively as it is aimed at furthering the cause of the Indian manufacturing industry. The Union Budget has the blueprint of a sustainable economic growth in Amrit Kaal (Amrit Kaal refers to the next 25 years (up to 2047) leading to the centenary of India's independence), backed by consistent and well-planned strategy. It also shows the strong commitment towards the electronic manufacturing sector and infrastructure development. The budget shows clear intent to offer calibrated Customs Duty Rates to provide a graded rate scheme to facilitate domestic electronic manufacturing sector.

 

 

Vishal Agrawal, 
MD, Avaya

“We appreciate the government’s continuous focus on the technology sector with the Budget 2023-24. The introduction of three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence to enable 'Make AI for India' and 'Make AI work for India' is something to look forward to for the upcoming digital nation.

The initiatives outlined for skill development and research in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and 5G, among others are encouraging for the IT industry.

In line with the GoI’s initiative to strengthen the MSMEs, we look forward to supporting them in creating a user-friendly space and helping them further to scale up with the help of our robust and collaborative solutions.

The government’s initiative to set up 100 labs for 5G solutions across engineering colleges and the announcement around the National data governance framework will further empower the students, Indian start-ups, and researchers that will collectively help us achieve our collective vision for the 5 trillion economy.”

 

 

Pramod Sharda 
CEO, IceWarp, India and Middle East

 

“The Union Budget 2023-24 by FM today has announced attractive incentives and rebates. The Income limit for rebate of Income Tax increased from 5 Lakhs to 7 Lakhs is a welcome note for the employee base. The budget includes renovations in the digital framework of the nation focusing on increasing the accessibility of these services for rural and tribal areas. We highly support the government’s initiatives to create jobs, and are keen on contributing towards the projected employment generation initiatives.

 

We are excited to witness the development of a tech-driven economy while contributing towards the same and enabling the growth-bound MSMEs sector, which will be infused with Rs 9,000 crore in revamped credit guarantee scheme, with our affordable, seamlessly integrated, secure Email & Collaboration solutions to effectively communicate and collaborate towards the growth path.

 

 

Ramanujam Komanduri 
Country Manager, Pure Storage India     

 

“The Union Budget presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister is growth-oriented and inclusive. The impetus for the 'Digital India' vision is clear from budgetary allocations across sectors like infrastructure, skill development, sustainability, MSME, and entrepreneurship.

 

This budget provides numerous growth opportunities for the technology industry by bringing digital solutions and innovation in legacy sectors like infrastructure, manufacturing, education, railways, healthcare, financial services, and regulatory bodies to turn India into a technology-driven, knowledge-based economy. Also commendable is a clear intent and investment in making India a net zero carbon emission country by 2070 through National Green Hydrogen Mission. Overall, the budget 2023 promises to sustain and catalyze India’s economic and digital growth with a strong role played by technology."

 

Sudhir Kunder
Country Director, DE-CIX India    

 

‘Successes in the previous budget and our transformation into the 'AmrutKal' were highlighted today by the Honorable Financial Minister. It's encouraging to see continued support for digital payment systems, digital document integration, and the creation of a digital public infrastructure for agritech and Fintech. Introduction of Digital lockers, Digital Library, E-Courts, and the promise of one hundred research labs to create applications for 5G were the landmark announcements. Empowering youth with 30 Skill India Centers imparting skills like Coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IoT, 3D printing, and drones with other NextGen cutting-edge technologies will make them economically independent.

Establishing three Institutes of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence Development is a major step forward for our country and will help to create AI in India and make AI work for India.

Summarizing, the budget makes it abundantly clear that 2023 will be the year of digitalization, with demands for digitalization rising throughout the year. As an Interconnection Platform, DE-CIX India is pleased to shoulder the duty of ensuring the long-term viability of India's Digital Infrastructure as "We Make Interconnection Easy. Anywhere".’

 

 

Triveni Rabindraraj
Head of Sales at GoTo, India 

 

"Union Budget 2023 is a great development and comes with many positives keeping people at the heart of Amrit Kaal vision. With the level of technology disruption and digital adoption witnessed in the last year, it is exciting to see the government’s inclined interest towards a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy. Start-ups and SMEs have the potential to be the key employment generator in the country. The renewed emphasis on growth in the MSME sector, women empowerment, and skilling is a welcome move as it strengthens inclusive and sustainable progress across all industries. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, Make AI in India, and increased focus on 5G continuum will prove to be a big push to bridge the talent gap and prepare country’s youth for Industry 4.0 by empowering them with new-age technology skills needed to make India one of the world’s preferred innovation hubs. These initiatives will level the playing field to enable MSMEs to invest in and improve their digital talent, enhance employee value proposition, and drive better business outcomes.”

 

 

Prashanth GJ 
CEO, TechnoBind Solutions

 

“The Union Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Union Budget 2023-24. She began by stating that the government sees the next 25 years as ‘Amrit Kaal’ marking the centenary of India’s independence. This is the first budget of this period and the government aims to achieve a technology-driven and knowledge-driven economy. The budget certainly reflected the FM’s statement and the plans being laid out to achieve this milestone. The budget has focused on youth, their skill enhancement and job creation, and the strengthening of the macroeconomy.

Technology will be a driving force in achieving these goals. 5G has been the center of focus with enterprises diving to benefit the most by using it as an instrument for development. The government’s focus on setting up 100 5G labs in engineering colleges to develop 5G-based applications will further enhance the efforts being made by the private sector. The initiative of having an open-source standard for the agriculture sector will help technology firms and startups in helping the farmers, which is still one of the largest sectors in India.”

 

 

Muneer Ahmad  
Vice President, Sales and Marketing, ViewSonic India

 

"We are happy to see that the budget 2023 talks at length about decreasing the digital divide by introducing National Digital Libraries that will facilitate access to quality books for children and adolescents across geographies, languages, genres, and levels. Furthermore, the centre's mission to re-envision teachers’ training through innovative pedagogy, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development, dipstick surveys, and ICT implementation will help boost the sectoral growth and knowledge sharing with the District Institutes of Education and Training set to be developed as vibrant institutes of excellence for this purpose. Furthermore, we are excited to see that the centre is working towards setting up of three Centres of Excellence for AI (Artificial Intelligence) in top educational institutes. It is a progressive measure that will help boost knowledge sharing and technology development in the education sector. However, we expected substantial measures in the budget for the allocation of resources for the development of technology in the educational sector. This would have supported higher investment and opened doors for new ventures in the industry."