Structurally, the Indian Startup ecosystem moving in the right direction: Amritkal Budget 2023

The roundtable budget conference kicked off with Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, addressing the audience at “the road to prosperity.” This roundtable budget conference was hosted by India Today and Aaj Tak and was open to the public and broadcast live, allowing citizens to understand the breakdown and speakers’ thoughts on the budget.

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, who was part of the panel discussion in the Round Table Budget, has been in charge of the budget for the past five years.  She called this year’s budget the ‘Amritkal budget’. Top Union Ministers discussed the budget and how their ministries would be affected overall after this year’s implementation of fund allocation. Ministers including Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, and Ashwini Vaishnav Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics, and Information Technology.

Another discussion took place on topics such as ‘Budget 2023’ and ‘Politics of an Election,” where speakers such as Jayant Sinha, Lok Sabha MP, BJP, and Supriya Shinate, Chairperson of social media and Congress spokesperson, expressed their opinions on these matters.

While Jayant Sinha spoke on the growth of India’s GDP and how the global economy is soon going to face recession. He added “with the global economy in a recessionary scenario, for us to be able to do a 6.5 per cent growth is absolutely remarkable and that is why India is being seen as a shining star globally.” On the same panel Congress Spokesperson and Chairperson of social media, Surpiya Shinate spoke around Adani’s controversy and question Sudhanshu Tiwari, Rajya Sabha MP, BJP about how the Modi government is letting this one slide. Supriya Shrinate further added that “they do not have the guts to name Adani, they do not have the guts to investigate Adani.” 

What does the Amritkal Budget 2023 mean for startups? The startup ecosystem, till a few years ago were not considered during the budget discussions. When asked if easing the Angle Tax would have helped the startup ecosystem, Rahul Garg, Founder and CEO of Mogix, stated that “he hoped of the taxes being eased out and he was excited that until a few years ago, startups were not a part of the budget conversation. As times have moved forward, it’s a big deal that the Indian government has started to include and give weightage to the startup ecosystem by including them in the budget discussions. Both the state and the central government have taken various initiatives to give a boost to startups. So, the way I look at it, for startups, right access to money is very important, and angels play a very important role in it. And the second thing is, I would also want to expand the question, which is a piece of taxation at the point of exercise. So, I think these two things, remain a recurring task for last several years, we continue to hope that it will come soon” he added.

Kunal Bahl, CEO of Snapdeal, expressed joy that startups were being ‘abundantly recognized’ as this was not a thing before. Earlier, it was black and white, either an individual had a job or not, or it was just called a business. 

A panel of various experts in their fields pushed the agenda for industrial growth, which included Parvesh Minocha, Chairman, Feedback Infra, CMD of Lemon Tree Hotels Mr. Patanjali Keswani, Mr. Navneet Munot, MD, and CEO of HDFC Mutual Fund, Mr. Kunal Bahl, CEO of Snapdeal, Mr. Rahul Garg, founder and CEO of Mogix, and Mr. Prashant Tripathy, MD, and CEO of Max Life Insurance during the ‘Push for Industrial Growth’ session, industrialists appreciated the allocations made in this budget. “This year’s budget can be summarised in three words: credible, continuity, and conviction,” said Navneet Munot, MD and CEO of HDFC Mutual Fund. Agreeing with other speakers, the CEO of Snapdeal Kunal Bahl expressed that the budget denotes positivity as a whole.

Chairman, Feedback Infra, Mr. Parvesh Minocha, was perplexed as to why the government sacrificed InvITs (Infrastructure Investment Trust) and insurance. He stated, “InvITs were earlier exempted but have now been included in the tax bracket. The budget has also scrapped tax benefits for large-ticket traditional life insurance plans while making rebate-linked savings unattractive for the average taxpayer.”

Mr. Patanjali Keswani, CMD of Lemon Tree Hotels, spoke about the hotel industry and tourism. The economy looks good even now in the service industry. There’s a boost in budget, and there is going to be tremendous growth in tourism and the hotel industry going forward. He said “the prices of rooms are going to be double of what they are in the coming 4-5 years. The emphasis is more on the retail side than the corporate side, as corporations buy in bulk and give less money than the retail sector.

Navneet Munoot, MD, and CEO of HDFC Mutual Fund, said, “Structurally, we are moving in the right direction when it comes to the allocation of budget.”

As the conference was ending, during the discussion with FM Nirmala Sitharaman, it appeared that a series of questions were directed at her, trying to undermine certain decisions taken in the Amritkal budget 2023. However, the Finance Minister was witty and charming with her rebuttal, backing each of her allocations. She further added, “Everyone wants to give an opinion, but no one has actually taken the time to read it.”