Ahead of India's first ever paperless, 'unprecendent' Budget 2021, India Inc and startups are hoping Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for Economic recovery and resurgence.
Today Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present India's first paperless budget, which she shared will be a 'unprecedented' ones budget 2021 will be one of the most important ones of modern Indian history as the country attempts to recover from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
India Inc and Indian startups are hoping for bold reforms across sectors of the Narendra Modi government to pave the way for economic recovery. The Indian economic, badly affected by coronavirus crisis, slipped into recession last year.
For the first time the government has been tasked with boosting the economy when demand for goods and services remains sluggish and tax collection remains a challenge in the midst of a host of other hurdles.
Although Finance Minister has vowed to create a "stronger economy like never before" in the wake of devastating effects of this pandemic, it will be imperative to have a budget that balances the expectations of the young population of India, takes care of the poor and less fortunate and act as the much needed catalyst for development. The Economic Survey which was tabled in the Parliament on Friday, projected a V - shaped economic recovery due to a mega - vaccination drive, a robust recovery in the services sector and a robust increase in consumption and investment.
The survey also predicted that India's economy will contract 7.7% in 2020-21, before witnessing a sharp 10 - 12% recovery in 2021-22. The economy is expected to grow at 6.5 % trend growth rate in 2022-23 and 7% in 2023-24, supported by structural reforms. In a pandemic led economy the may seem like a positive increase. However, given India's earlier goal to achieve the GDP of $5 trillion by 2024, it is very poor.
According to a Confederation of Indian Industry(CII)- CARE Ratings research paper, India's GDP could hit $5 trillion(Rs 5 lakh crore) by 2026-27 if the country's economy develops at an annual average rate of 11.6 percent over the next six years.
Over a seven-year period, between 2021-2027, the new investment needed to take the Indian economy to this level will amount of Rs 498 lakh crore.
Indian start-ups, who have already shown their resilience and grit during the pandemic, are expected to provide the much-needed catalyst for this growth. While the start-up community praised the seed fund and help provided during the pandemic, YourStory, the ecosystem leaders, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders, spoke of full consensus on the need for infrastructural and operational reforms in India.
These Include
- More focus on ease of doing business
- Efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure, particularly in rural India
- Building better GST and tax infrastructure
- Incentivise export of technology products
- Infuse more liquidity for MSMEs
- More support to upskilling and education technology startups
- Empowering domestic tourism
- Strong focus on renewable energy
- Easy availability of working capital for startups
- Shore up defences against cybersecurity