Budget 2023: More incentives needed for women leaders of tomorrow - Aditi Shrivastava

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gets ready to present the Union Budget for 2023-24 on February 1, the industry is hoping for measures to be announced that will fuel overall economic growth. Budget 2023-24 is an important one as it comes a year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, and also as it comes amid a global slowdown and several geo-political tussles.

While 2022 was a year of recovery after two years of Covid disruptions, the industry is looking forward to consolidating the gains from 2022 this year and witnessing growth across sectors.

“I believe diversity and inclusion in the workforce is vital to an organisation’s overall success and, by extension, the economy, as has been repeatedly demonstrated over the years. In fact, according to market data, women’s employability increased to 51.44% in 2022 from 41.25% in 2021. We hope that this Union Budget furthers this paradigm shift in perception through the empowerment of women,” said Aditi Shrivastava, Co-Founder and CEO, Pocket Aces, while speaking about her expectations from the Union Budget 2023.

She noted that today, the entrepreneurship spirit within women is at an all-time high, which is encouraging the growth of more women-led start-ups in India. It has become evident that women entrepreneurs in India believe in taking more risks, which has the potential to yield higher profits. Women-owned firms have outperformed expectations in terms of success and have had a significant impact on a variety of industries, including media and entertainment, direct-to-consumer, cosmetics, finance, and more. “These businesses require the government’s assistance and support. I expect and hope that this year’s Budget will provide more incentives to the women leaders of tomorrow, such as interest-free loans and help in attracting investment,” Shrivastava added.

She also noted that by 2025, India is predicted to have an economy worth $5–10 trillion, and women will continue to be crucial in accomplishing this goal. “We hope to see more women taking centrestage in the growth of the Indian economy as we anticipate this historic budget to address important issues for our industries and chart a course to unparalleled growth,” Shrivastava concluded.