In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic’s uncertainty, Indian businesses are looking to the Union Budget, which will be presented on February 1, for a boost in the form of tax benefits, GST reductions, and regulatory relief, among other things. Startups are hopeful that the government would place a greater emphasis on fintech, edtech, healthtech, electric mobility, and crypto, among other areas, in order to secure all-encompassing development. According to the Economic Survey, the number of new recognised start-ups surged from 733 in 2016-17 to over 14,000 in 2021-22, making India the world’s third largest startup ecosystem behind the United States and China. According to the survey, 44 Indian companies will reach unicorn status in 2021, bringing the total number of unicorns in India to 83. The majority of them would be in the services sector. According to Prashant Narang, co-founder of Agility Ventures, the country’s startup environment might benefit from tax breaks and incentives.
“The government should look at providing various tax reliefs for developing infrastructure in the startup ecosystem, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. For instance, they can give tax incentives for setting up incubators/ innovation labs. There is also a need to introduce relaxations on capital gains tax for specific sectors like agritech, electric vehicles, healthcare and renewable energy,” he said.
Given the importance of batteries in the continuing EV revolution, Neuron Energy Co-Founder Pratik Kamdar believes that the future budget should look at requiring charging infrastructure across business and residential properties.
“While the EV industry is gradually gaining momentum in the country and the breakneck developments spurring growth, companies providing auxiliary support to the segment like batteries should also be considered in the upcoming Union Budget. Owing to the uncertainties associated with the global contagion, many of these SMEs and MSMEs dominantly start-ups have faced the brunt resulting in financial and manpower losses and in some cases even closure of business. The Budget should focus on introducing start-up friendly policies and tax relaxation thus encouraging more capital infusion, innovation and ease of doing business,” he said.
The sector also expects regulatory barriers for startups to be eased and fine prints to be obliterated, allowing fledgling businesses to grow and create more jobs.
