The focus given to youth through various announcements shows the government’s focus on the future of the country.
NEW DELHI: The Union Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Union Budget 2023-24. She began by stating that the government sees the next 25 years as ‘Amrit Kaal’ marking the centenary of India’s independence.
is the first budget of this period and the government aims to achieve a technology-driven and knowledge-driven economy. The budget certainly reflected the FM’s statement and the plans being laid out to achieve this milestone. The budget has focused on youth, their skill enhancement and job creation, and the strengthening of the macroeconomy.
Technology will be a driving force in achieving these goals. 5G has been the center of focus with enterprises diving to benefit the most by using it as an instrument for development. The government’s focus on setting up 100 5G labs in engineering colleges to develop 5G-based applications will further enhance the efforts being made by the private sector.
Mihir Joshi, CEO, GVFL said, “The budget supports innovation and entrepreneurship, the key growth drivers of the economy. Extending the tax holiday policy by a year and the benefit of carrying forward losses on change of shareholding of startups to 10 years of incorporation from the current seven years is welcome. The focus on bringing more youth into entrepreneurship will spur the economy. Setting up three Centres of Excellence in AI and 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services will enhance the innovation capacity, fuel deep-tech startups, and help find scalable solutions for many problems.”
Kamal Bansal, MD, GVFL said, “The Finance Minister has achieved a financial balance between increasing capital expenditure and reducing the fiscal deficit from 6.4% to 5.9%. The budget will make the economy more resilient. It also lays out the vision for the next 25 years and focuses on giving ample opportunities to the youth. The National Data Governance Policy will unleash innovation and research by startups and academia. The Agriculture Accelerator Fund will encourage agri startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas and help in modernizing agriculture. The extension of the date of incorporation for income tax benefits to startups by a year will give a boost to the startup ecosystem.”
The initiative of having an open-source standard for the agriculture sector will help technology firms and startups in helping the farmers, which is still one of the largest sectors in India.
Kuldeep Malhotra, Dy. Managing Director, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India Pvt Ltd, said “We are delighted to have a Union Budget that focuses on introducing new technologies on a wide scale. Since our youth is the backbone of our economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked about training millions of youth within a period of the next three years under the government’s Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0. The scheme will also cover new-age courses for Industry 4.0, like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills. These are the technologies that will assist businesses across multiple fields to function smoothly. Additionally, the decision to set up 30 Skill India International Centres will open the doors of international markets to Indian youth.
Furthermore, with Budget 2023, the government is taking its sustainability initiatives to new heights. Programs that promote green fuel, green energy, green farming, green mobility, green buildings, and green equipment, are the need of the hour. These green growth efforts help cut down the carbon intensity of the economy and provide large-scale green job opportunities.
Pramod Ghadge, Co-Founder & CEO, Unbox Robotics said, New-age technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been playing a critical role in helping India and its businesses across different sectors leapfrog to global standards in innovation. The Budget prioritizes upskilling the country’s youth in courses like AI, robotics, etc., ensuring that the country is able to transition smoothly and quickly into Industry 4.0 in the next three years. As a company making AI and its applications work for India and across the world, we are excited to see the Union Budget 2023’s focus on skill development and setting up of Centres of Excellence for AI in the country to foster research & development, innovations and the overall growth of the ecosystem.
The focus given to youth through various announcements shows the government’s focus on the future of the country. Apart from the 5G labs set up in the colleges, the government’s recognition towards new-age skills will help SMEs with a competent workforce. The access to courses on coding, mechatronics, IoT, robotics, drones and 3D printing will help the youth enter the workforce.
Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India – this slogan boosts the tech vertical’s efforts in including artificial intelligence in every aspect of our life as it betters the living and boosts development in every vertical. The government announcing the setting up of 3 Centres of Excellence for artificial intelligence has strengthened the efforts.
Experts from the industry will be helping in the research and development of AI-based applications to help the agriculture, healthcare and sustainability sectors. These announcements in the budget will definitely have a positive outcome and help India’s tech vertical to achieve bigger milestones in the coming years.
