Itâ€™s a growth-oriented Budget for the Media & Advertising industry: Anand Bhadkamkar

The Union Budget for 2021-22, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament yesterday (February 1, 2021), is being seen as a growth-oriented Budget by the industry. The industry has hailed the various provisions in the Budget to give a boost to MSMEs, start-ups and the massive push for Digital and Atmanirbhar India.

Calling it a growth-oriented Budget, Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO India, dentsu, said, “The Finance Minister has done an excellent job and has made sure that there is no increase in taxes. The disinvestment of PSU banks, LIC, consolidation of SEBI Act, etc., are the right steps ahead and we need to see how she will deliver on that aspect.”

What really impressed Bhadkamkar about this budget are the six Pillars – one of which is minimum government and maximum governance, which is also very important in the corporate world. “The Budget intends to bring liquidity into the economy, focus on Infrastructure and offer tax holiday for start-ups, giving the MSME a higher outlay,” he noted.

Speaking further, Bhadkamkar said, “Another beneficial move is the tax relief offered to senior citizens, which is excellent administratively. Insurance and Healthcare have been given a huge boost. Similarly, easing of business rules for NRIs is a step in the right direction. Instead of taxing the taxpayer, the Finance Minister has ensured that the revenue comes from smarter allocation of available resources and better tax management. As a salaried person, I would have liked more benefits. However, aforementioned, we expected positive consumer sentiment to be created by the Budget and I am optimistic that this Budget is going to do so. The Budget aims to bring down the fiscal deficit; and largely sectors like Infrastructure, Healthcare, Education, Automobiles, etc., are seeing positive momentum.”

“We expect the spending to accelerate, witness positive growth in terms of spends coming in, and consumer sentiments returning. If you see the social sector from an economic growth perspective, which needs to be pushed from the grassroots level, this Budget is providing the same with infrastructure development. This can lead to a domino effect for development. Likewise, from the advertising sector perspective, the feeling is similar. Though there are multiple factors involved. If you go category-wise such as FMCG, Consumer Durables and Auto, there is positivity and we expect spends from them,” Bhadkamkar added.

While mobiles are likely to get costlier, he said that the Government has given more relief to domestic industries to support an Atmanirbhar Bharat. For the Media & Advertising industry, it is a growth-oriented Budget that is likely to support growth in advertising and marketing spends as well.