With the ‘mantra’ of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas,’ and the whole of nation approach of ‘Sabka Prayas,’ the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament on February 1, 2024. This Indian Union Budget for 2024-25 was an interim budget owing to upcoming election. Since it was an interim budget, it focused on essential expenditures and avoided making major policy changes, as a full budget will be presented after the general elections scheduled for later in 2024.
The security industry has taken the budget on a positive note. Views of some of the industry stalwarts are being published in this issue of magazine that will be of huge value adds for the readers.
“A growth oriented budget for a new and empowered India”
Ashish P. Dhakan
MD & CEO Prama Hikvision India Private Limited
We welcome the growth oriented interim budget 2024-2025 with a clear roadmap for a new and empowered India. This budget has the vision of ‘Jan Kalyan’ (Public Welfare) and Viksit Bharat (Developed India) with the idea of inclusive growth. It has a clear imprint of the government’s mantra ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas.’ It is a visionary budget with special focus on infrastructure development, inclusive growth and skilling youth. The agenda of empowering Amrit Peedhi (the emerging generation) through multiple schemes and initiatives (Skill India Mission, PM Mudra Yojna and Start-Up India) is quite evident in the budget. These initiatives are assisting our youth and entrepreneurs while delivering amazing results.
The Indian Electronic Security Industry is hoping for more concessions and tax rebates for strengthening the manufacturing sector. This will help to enable the latest technologies and security products for the greater good. We sincerely hope that the Finance Minister would consider the key concerns of the key electronic security Industry stakeholders in the future policies and tax reforms. We are sure that the government will continue to support the Make-in-India 2.0 with a clear roadmap and policy structure. The Electronic Security Industry is expecting the continued government support to contribute significantly to the nation’s economic growth.
Vishak Raman
VP of Sales, India, SAARC, SEAHK & ANZ, Fortinet
The cybersecurity challenges have expanded at an unparalleled rate, witnessing a 68% surge in the detection of unique cyber threats over the last 5 years according to FortiGuard Labs. Addressing this threat requires unified approach, leveraging strong partnerships and collaborative efforts across both the public and private sectors, as well as various industries. Understanding the gravity of these concerns, the government has significantly elevated its commitment to safeguarding our nation’s critical infrastructure and digital assets.
The latest budget reflects this dedication, nearly doubling the cybersecurity funding from Rs.400 crores in the previous fiscal year to Rs.759 crores for the current year. This significant increase in investment towards cybersecurity initiatives arrives at a crucial moment, as we face an expanded threat landscape fuelled by the rapid proliferation of IoT devices and the merging of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) networks.
Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani
Founder, Hiranandani Group and Chairman, National Naredco
Hon’ble FM decoded an integrated and equitable growth budget outlay encompassing significant social reforms, enhancing economic growth value chain, emphasize of sunrise sectors and impetus to urban & rural housing with mega infrastructure projection. India has risen in its global leadership by paving the way for world economies, setting new standards, establishing strong geo-political allies and corroborating address geo-economic vagaries. The buoyancy in the domestic economy is an outcome of the comprehensive GDP growth mantra in the pursuit of the ‘Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikaas’ objective. Keeping the fiscal consolidation target at 5.1% will decrease the cost of borrowing for businesses and industries. This in turn will help stimulate economic growth, stabilize the economy and reduce the risks of inflation.
The enhancement in infrastructure outlay by 11% will bode well for firming up the growth of residential, commercial and industrial real estate asset classes across the geographies. The augmentation of multimodal corridor connectivity with new railway corridors, and doubling of airports and ports corridors will have a multiplier effect on the real estate landscape.
The extension of the PMAY scheme for rural areas is in accordance with the objective of Housing for all laid by the Hon’ble PMO. A focused direction is set for addressing the housing deficit needs of the urban poor with the buy or build house motto. The continual skilling & Upskilling of the working populace will help the sector gain a competitive advantage and increase direct as well as indirect employment opportunities. Therefore, India’s vision for ‘Amrit Kaal’ is stated very clearly and thus the country is on track to becoming ‘Vikshit Bharat’ by 2047.
Kumar Gaurav
Founder & CEO, Cashaa (Fintech)
We indeed were expecting some progress on the lines of the regulatory framework in the crypto sector, which has been one of the primary speculations all this while. Nevertheless, the government is whole heartedly accepting technological disruption in different sectors by emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, blockchain etc. Adoption of deeptech in sectors like defence indicates a positive sentiment. We do understand that it is an interim budget, and there has been no mention of any regulatory framework or rationalization in tax or TDS structure, in regard to the crypto sector which has been long pending. However, we are hopeful about the coming months and expect to hear encouraging policies soon.
Rajendra Chitale
Chief Finance Officer Crayon Software Experts India
Today the honorary Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget for FY2024-25. The call for Viksit Bharat i.e., Developed India will be the north star for businesses to ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’. The efforts to realise the dream of developed India by 2047 are idealistic and we at Crayon look forward to contributing towards this goal. The focus provided by the government in upskilling and reskilling 54 lakh youths and training close to 1 crore youths through the Skill India Mission instils confidence in the technology sector to utilize the country’s existing talent pool.
The Trinity – Demography, Democracy and Diversity will help businesses of all sectors to put in efforts to provide employment opportunities and aid them in sustainable development. The Union FM’s mention of the importance given to the ease of doing business by supporting MSMEs through technology and financing is what the industry is looking forward to. The businesses are expecting a strong policy around investment needs and a regulatory framework aligning with the Panchamrut goals. The most encouraging news has been that how the country is witnessing a strong women enrollment in universities where 43% of them are for STEM education, the highest in the world. This resonates with the initiatives companies similar to Crayon are taking in to create a diversified work environment with more presence of women in the workplace.
Sarvagya Mishra
Co-founder & Director, Superbot
It’s encouraging that the government recognizes the importance of addressing skill development to meet the demand for a high-quality workforce in the emerging technology sector, crucial for India’s ambitious goal of a $5 trillion economy. All the initiatives mentioned in the Interim budget speech like establishment of more IITs, IIITs, STEM courses etc., are cementing the foundation of the growing India, which is youth. Commendably, the government’s embrace of deeptech in critical sectors like defense underscores our country’s progressive stance.
Given that R&D is a capital-intensive step for businesses in deeptech, blockchain, machine learning, and Generative AI, increased allocation towards MUDRA schemes and the announcement of a 1-lakh crore corpus with 50-year interest-free support will undoubtedly fuel technological growth.
Prashanth GJ
Chief Executive Officer TechnoBind Solutions
The interim budget presented this year by the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shows promise of what is to be expected next in terms of development for the technology verticals. The prominence given to the youth, startups and women is in the current momentum we are witnessing in India and globally. Viksit Bharat or Developed India by 2024 is the target and we as a nation are on the right path to fulfilling this goal. The promise of the Union FM around developing the financial sector with scale, capacity and regulatory frameworks for meeting investment goals is much needed to expel the current idea of ‘funding winter’. The announcement of establishing a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore providing 50-year long-term interest-free loans, long-term financing and refinancing with low or nil interest will invigorate the innovators and the youth of India.
This can be a strong foundation for continuing the stance of Atmanirbhar Bharat and the Make In India initiative. The encouragement given to the private sector to scale innovation and research along with the development of Deep Tech for the defence sector will help in the free-flow of opportunities by and for the youth. Lastly, The enrolment of women in STEM education which is at 43%, the highest in the world as quoted by the Union FM strengthens the efforts put in by organizations to have an inclusive workforce.
Shreeranganath Kulkarni
Managing Director InfoVision
InfoVision warmly welcomes the budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The introduction of a 1-lakh crore fund with a 50-year interest-free benefit for private sector research and development is a transformative step, particularly for innovation-driven enterprises like ours with a strong focus on edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
The injection of such long-term, interest-free capital promises to substantially boost our research and development initiatives that serve not only India but also the global market. It arrives at an opportune time, aligning with InfoVision’s recognition in the Zinnov Zones for Engineering R&D and Digital Services 2023, particularly for our work in Data & AI Engineering.
This financial support will undoubtedly speed up efforts to create top-tier innovations in India for the world. It underscores our commitment to leveraging India’s rich talent pool and contributes to our nation’s technological progress.
