Corporates, economists and market experts expect
Budget 2021 Expectations Live Updates: Watch this space for all LIVE updates on budget expectations from various corporates, economists, investors and market experts.
Budget 2021 Expectations Live Updates: The Union Budget 2021 is just days away. Amid concerns over the severe impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on India’s GDP growth during the past year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her third Union Budget on February 1, 2021.
Ahead of the budget, the customary ‘halwa ceremony’ was held on Saturday at the Union Finance Ministry headquarters at North Block in New Delhi. On the occasion, Sitharaman also launched the “Union Budget Mobile App” for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public.
- "Expect government to provide an income tax holiday for EV unit operations"
"With the promotion of clean energy priority on the government agenda, we have strong expectations from the union budget when it comes to the EV industry. We expect the central government to provide an income tax holiday for EV unit operations. This will lead to having a competitive price on electric vehicles. The government should also consider lowering ROI on the electric vehicle fraternity.In order to encourage people for the faster adoption of EVs, we expect the government to allot budgets for providing subsidies on low-speed electric vehicles. Another key step that the government can take is to waive off the parking fee and toll rates for electric vehicles that will further push green mobility in India." said Yogesh Bhatia, Founder at Detel
- "Imperative for the government to bring about a groundbreaking transformation in the logistics sector"
"As India Inc. sets sights on the Budget 2021-2022, I would like to draw the attention of the honourable finance minister towards a few key pain points of the logistics industry that must be addressed in this year's budget. With logistics holding the economy together even during the COVID-19 pandemic and set to play an even more crucial role in current times, the government must look at providing the much-required financial and infrastructural support to the sector. With India's aim to reduce the logistics cost from the current 14 per cent of GDP to less than 10 per cent, it is imperative for the government to bring about a groundbreaking transformation in the logistics sector that encapsulates an increased use of digital technologies and automation. We urge the government to take dedicated measures to boost digitalisation so as to drive transparency and bring in the required predictability in logistics. Another key step that the government must take is to bring Fuel under the purview of GST as this could fundamentally transform the Indian logistics sector. While goods are moved from one place to another, it is generally required for the transporter to carry a hard copy of the invoice, the government must also do away with this by way of e-way bill digitalisation. On the demand side, the government can look at driving the overall consumption which could be achieved by reducing personal income tax and GST on various goods, etc.," Abhik Mitra, MD & CEO at Spoton Logistics.
- "Boost in domestic consumption, spending and savings within the nation needs to be a priority"
"The Year 2020 has been one of the most difficult years in recent human history. While the world economy has been badly hit, countries like India are now looking at a path of recovery. Given this scenario all eyes will now be on the Union Budget 2021. This will be a very complex budget as while the focus will be on growth and recovery, the government also needs to assign substantial funds for relief measures to curb the effects of the virus.
Our Honourable FM has already said, India's economy will return to growth in 2021/22 and higher spending in the budget will lay the foundations for even stronger growth. A boost in domestic consumption, spending and savings within the nation needs to be a priority. As on date Personal Income Tax coupled with indirect taxes leaves very little with public for saving and investments. Rationalization of Personal Income Tax rates is essential to ensure there is surplus funds available in the household for both saving & spending.
With the pandemic having disrupted almost all industries, there is no doubt that industry at large and the economy in general needs handholding. Nevertheless, three sectors that must have specific attention to revive the economy are agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure. While the case for agriculture and healthcare needs no rationale, the importance of infrastructure calls for some elaboration. First, agriculture and healthcare both require modern infrastructure to ensure better outcomes, respectively.
There is no doubt the Budget should have adequate financial outlays for infrastructure development due to its association with greater growth while generating more employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Since infrastructure development also boosts other industries and facilitates the ease of doing business, it fosters inclusive growth and helps in poverty alleviation too. In the light of the above, to boost a quicker economic turnaround, the Union Budget 2021 should ensure greater outlays for infrastructure development.
Though, the government has unveiled its plan for INR 100 – 150 lakh crore investment in the Infrastructure Sector going forward under the National Infrastructure Pipeline. Funding of same should be addressed in the Budget through creation of Development Finance Institutions/ Infrastructure debt funds / Sovereign Wealth fund. This will enable low cost and long term borrowing requirement for the Infrastructure Projects as has been the case worldwide. More Banks like IIFCL and other DFCs should be created with the mandate to take lead and fund capital intensive long gestation infrastructure projects. This will bring much desired liquidity in the system and enable private sector participation.
The Union Budget 2021 will be very crucial as it will pave the way to enable India become a USD 5 Trillion economy," said Sanjay Palve, Senior Managing Director at Essar Capital
