UNION FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget for 2023-24 has been given a thumbs up by the Pune Inc. The budget, with its insistence on digital technology, would help bring growth in all sectors and also help the MSME sector which is the main stay of Pune’s industrial ecosystem.
Deepak Karandikar, president of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture called the budget a sound one. “Allocation of Rs 9,000 crore towards credit guarantee for MSMEs will enable additional credit of Rs 2 trillion for the sector,” he said.
Prashant Girbhane, director general of MCCIA, also lauded the budget. “The 33 per cent increase in capital expenditure to Rs 10 trillion will help boost growth as well as aid in employment generation,” he said. The emphasis of the government on the use of digital technology was evident in the budget, he said.
Sudhir Mehta, founder chairman of Pinnacle Industries, said the automotive sector would be encouraged by the new scrappage policy, which will positively impact the entire value chain by creating more demand in the sector and giving a boost to the economy. Adequate funding to scrap old government vehicles and ambulances will create additional demand for small & medium commercial vehicles, which will also lead to more job opportunities in the sector,” he said.
Vandita Purohit, founder, Mauji Cafe – Hospitality and MSME Sector said, “It’s great that this budget has a contingency plan for the hospitality sector which was much needed. But, there is still a lack of awareness among hospitality start-ups with respect to how to access this for the larger benefit of the hospitality ecosystem and our economy. We appreciate this step taken by the govt of refunding 95% if the MEME startup fails, but this can also have a lot of unforeseen drawbacks for the last mile startups.
Also, MSME is a very vast category to build the budget around. So, I believe it should be bifurcated according to industries so that not only one but all industries benefit from the govt offering.
Jesal Sampat, Executive Director, Pune Gas – Manufacturing, MSME and Oil & Gas, said,”Firstly, great news for the Indian lower and middle-class citizens as per the revised income tax slabs.
Secondly, the plan to make the revised tax slabs as the default regimes will make it simpler to understand and implement their personal financial planning for taxpayers.
The intention to reduce the fiscal deficit in the coming years is important to make our country and economy even more stronger and resilient going forward. As a director of an MSME company, the enhancement of the credit guarantee scheme for the MSMEs will give a further boost to the already pressurized sector as many MSMEs still have a long path to recovery after suffering for a good two years due to Covid lockdowns.
The idea of a Digilocker is really great and will be welcomed in a big way by Proprietors, Partners, Owners and Directors of companies. If implemented well, it can save precious time for doing KYC each time for every transaction.
