By Sujeet Kumar,

This is a ‘pro-growth’ Budget aimed at all-round development and addresses all the key levers to further drive economic growth. While focusing on technology-enabled growth, the Budget also takes into consideration the interests of every section of society, including farmers.

With economic growth as the central theme, the finance minister has looked beyond just exemptions to focus more on digitisation infrastructure and future tech — all key drivers towards making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.
One of the key highlights of the Budget has been a sharp increase in expenditure towards world-class infrastructure creation.

The PM Gati Shakti masterplan announced to achieve economic growth and sustainable development clearly lays the foundation for infrastructure development for the next 25 years. This is not only essential for the growth of traditional industries, but will also play a critical role for new-age industries where logistics and supply chain form a major part of their operations and cost.

Also Read: Industry Speak | Focus on tech shows progressive mindset

One underlying message which clearly stems from this year’s Budget is the government’s intent to create more jobs as India emerges from the shadows of the pandemic. While all economic indicators suggest it is on the cusp of a revival, the slew of industry-friendly measures to boost growth will help India again become the fastest-growing major economy in the world. The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme extension with a total cover of over `5 lakh crore to micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) is a step in the right direction and will further help in achieving inclusive growth and making an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The incentive to further extend the existing tax redemption benefit to start-ups by an additional one year and the surcharge on long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax capped at 15% for all listed and unlisted companies in this year’s Budget is a welcome step. This has been a long-standing demand of the industry and we are delighted this has been addressed by the Finance Minister.

The introduction of the fund under the co-investment model facilitated through NABARD to finance start-ups for agriculture and rural enterprise will further aid and provide the much-needed support and access to capital, machinery, and technology. In my opinion this is a major step that will result in massive employment generation while providing a major boost to the rural economy. To sum it up, this is a very progressive, bold and growth-oriented Budget that lays the roadmap for Bharat’s next 25 years of growth led by a decisive Prime Minister.

The author is co-founder, Udaan. Views are personal.