Union Budget 2022 will bring economy back on track: Experts

Just one day remains for the Union Budget 2022-2023 to be presented by the Finance Minister on February 1, 2022. Having an optimistic foresight with this year’s Budget, 66% of the marketers expect their budgets to increase this year (DCMN Growth Guide). Adgully reached out to cross-section of industry leaders to know about their expectations from the upcoming Budget. 

Deepender Rana, Executive Managing Director- South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar:

“Consumer expectations from the budget has changed with the country being in the third year of the pandemic and healthcare remaining a concern. The good thing is majority have seen 2021 budget to have positively impacted them and also reflects in the Economic survey which projects the consumption story to be intact. Overall the signs are encouraging with most of the population getting vaccinated which can minimize disruptions leading to a high growth for the coming years ”

Mahesh Viswanathan, Chief Financial Officer, Finolex Cables:

“This year’s budget is going to be critical from an economic stabilization and growth point of view. The governments continued investment in asset creation and boost infrastructural development will be a key focus point in these testing and uncertain time. The country's MSME sector has been on a growth trajectory and efforts should be made to ensure this sector is protected due to its long term potential. Reliefs on income/personal income tax, provision of affordable housing and consideration for the real estate sector along with accommodative banking regulations will play a major role to get back on track the progressive Indian economy goal.” 

Vicky Jain, Founder, uKnowva:

The pandemic has disrupted every sector and one thing that everyone wants from the UnionBudget 2022-23 is to bring the economy back on track.  While every sector has faced its own ups and downs over the past year, there is one sector that has witnessed immense growth and potential i.e. technology and automation. The technology and automation sector has become a significant contributor to the country's mission of digital empowerment. Given the role of the technology sector in the growth of Digital India, it is expected that the government may implement effective and favorable policies, in creating the digital infrastructure and the ecosystem to support innovation. Similarly, incentivizing research and development of next-generation technologies like AI, ML, robotics, etc. could help leverage India’s cost-effective science and engineering talent to develop strategic capabilities in scientific and industrial research. Special provisions and schemes need to be introduced to increase Digital Education and relevant Digitization to foster employment generation as well as re-employment. Another important area to focus on is the upskilling and reskilling of the existing workforce. There has been a lot of change in the way we operate and do business post COVID. It’s quite clear that the skill gap from education to corporate remains quite huge. This gap is now increasing with the AI-driven work culture setting in. Youth unemployment is close to 20 percent and that’s quite alarming. Adequate allocation for upskilling and reskilling is the need of the hour.