Post-budget reaction quotes on various startups and companies-UrbanClap, Carzonrent , Myles,ApartmentADDA , ExportersIndia.com , SaleBhai.com, ECO Rent A Car, Onlymobiles.com, JobsForHer, Hunarr, IndiaMART, Timesaverz, Styletag
Mr. Abhiraj Bhal(Co-founder, UrbanClap)
"The new policy proposed in the budget, allowing startups a 3 year tax holiday in the first 7 years of their existence is a welcome change. However, this policy could have been more impactful had it included startups incorporated prior to 31 Mar'16, and extended the period when the tax holiday can be availed from 7 to 10 years. Equally importantly, while the present Ministry and Department are very committed to their work, to avoid future mis-use of this policy, clear guidelines and definition of a startup should be laid out, and any subjectivity in the granting of these tax holidays avoided."
Mr. Rajiv Vij(CEO & MD, Carzonrent.com)
"The Union Budget presented brings out the progressive outlook of the government for Businesses as well as individuals. The investments proposed in the area of skill developments are a welcome step. The investments in building National Highways is a welcome step for the car rental industry. The impact of the demonetization drive is visible with progressive steps taken for an inclusive and cashless economic future of India."
Ms. Sakshi Vij (Founder & CEO, Mylescars.com)
"The Union Budget presented is a welcome change. The governments focus on inclusion and encouragement of the MSME sector along with Startups is visible. The increase in the Profit linked deductions period to 3 out of 7 years is a welcome change for young startups like us. The exemptions proposed for the Indian entities with Foreign placed portfolio investments is also a step in the right direction."
Ms. Sangeeta Banerjee(Co-Founder & CEO – ApartmentADDA)
"When it comes to Real Estate / Housing, the Budget is solely oriented towards boosting Affordable Housing, as expected. Affordable housing defined as House Cost up to Rs.50Lakh or Carpet Area of 300 sqft in metros and 600 sqft in other cities.. This definition varies for different benefits in the budget.
For urban Apartment Communities or RWAs, a positive Budget announcement is for the Govt will Undertake important reforms by providing legal framework for dispute resolution and re-negotiations in PPP projects and public utility contracts.
Many Apartment Communities or RWAs wish to build or maintain public amenities in their neighbourhood in partnership with Govt. This could be Parks, Lakes, or even Last Mile Roads. A robust PPP framework as well as dispute resolution will make this a win-win for the Gov as well as forward-thinking neighborhoods."
Mr. Sunil Gupta , Founder & Director, ExportersIndia.com
"With “Transform, energise, and clean India, that is Tech India” this budget has upped allocation for rural, agriculture and allied sectors by 24% has opened scope for increasing investments and yielding multiple benefits. The rapid growth in manufacturing sector is a good sign for overall economy. The new FDI policy is a welcome move. MSMEs and start ups have all the reasons to cheer with a dip in income tax to 25% for companies with an annual turnover of Rs.50 crore. Their grin grows wider with the FM proposing dip in bank lending rates. Incentives such as cash backs, referral schemes on BHIM app is all set to push the use of digital transactions which is yet another reason for MSMEs to move to online business models. The lowering of Income tax would also increase the spending capacity which will benefit the SMEs."
Mr. Vishwavijay Singh ,Co-founder, SaleBhai.com
"The hero of the Union Budget 2017 is definitely the rural sector, with finance minister Arun Jaitley allocating Rs 1,87,223 crore for rural-agri development. He spoke of doubling farmer income in five years, keeping agriculture credit at Rs 10 lakh crore, and increasing cultivation area for kharif and rabi crops among a slew of forward-looking measures. Another important feature of the Budget is the Government's resolve to ramp up infrastructure, which should help in taking forward the government's Digital India campaign. As an e-commerce player, I see consumption in rural areas going up. With rural areas likely to witness greater digital penetration, the e-commerce sector is surely to benefit."
Mr Aditya Loomba, Joint Managing Director, ECO Rent A Car
The budget was ore or less as per my expectation, as it focused mainly on infrastructure growth like roads, sanitation, affordable housing etc
It also focuses on implementation of recent demonetization and digitalization policies.The HNIs will be taxed more and the tax burden on lower-mid income will be reduced.There was also some tax relief for small businesses which I feel is a good initiative.Personally, I wished there could have been more focus on our Tourism and Hospitality industry as it has a much greater potential for growth and needs suitable investments.We are a large country with an amazing potential for tourism. If the tourism grows, it has cascading benefits on Employment, GDP and general image building of our nation.
Mr Shrutam Desai, CO-Founder, Onlymobiles.com
However, there are no direct announcements made with respect to e-commerce sector, i will call it a muted budget but the expectations were also on lower side as we are expecting major reforms only during the GST announcements and subsequent rollout. there are two notable announcements made which will eventually help e-commerce companies (esp those who are in nascent stage) - 01) reduced income tax for people whose income is less than 5L - this will increase the net income of the salaried class and may help to increase the consumption. 02) reduced corporate tax from 30% to 25% - with annual turnover of less than 50 Crore
However, we should also note that ample focus have been placed on improving infrastructure - which eventually bring down the logistic expenses for the e-commerce companies. the result may not be visible in short period but it is govt’s message that they are prioritising the transportation sector.
Ms. Neha Bagaria,Co-Founder & CEO,JobsForHer (connecting portal that enables women on a professional break to restart their career)
"I’m happy to see the Government address the issue of training and skilling women with the introduction of Mahila Shakti Kendras aimed at empowering women. Encouraging more women to join the workforce is critical to India’s ability to benefit from the demographic dividend.
We will hopefully see an increase in female participation in the workforce, with the Government increasing allocation for women’s skill development to Rs 1.84 lakh cr for FY’18.
We are moving in the right direction with these Government led schemes aimed at increasing the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for women. This is vital to achieving high growth of employment and overall economic growth"
Mr. Dinesh Goel,Co-Founder & CEO,Hunarr.co,in (Online training aggregator connecting training seekers to training providers)
"Budget 2017 seems to be positive for skill development in the country. Setting up of 100 India-International skill centers for advanced training will certainly help more Indians compete in the international market. Programs like Swayam will make it easier to ensure quality education, from the best faculties in the country, reaches a wider audience. Allocation of Rs.1.84 lakh crore in women skill development is also an extremely welcome move. A central national testing agency to conduct all higher education exams will free up a lot of resources for boards like CBSE to put more focus on the curriculum and preparing students for college and ultimately their professional life"
Taking Ease of Doing Business from India to a Digitally Healthy Bharat - Dinesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO,IndiaMART.com
The budget 2017 has laid a foundation of an enterprise and business pro India. Important factors to boost GDP are thought of the Union Budget 2017. Most important elements such as young demographic dividend, skill development, women employability, digital education, transport have been well accounted for. Also, it is reflected that the burden of taxation is more evenly split with all demographies of the society.
It is a good year for SMEs, India’s backbone given the direct and indirect reforms announced for them. 5 special tourism zones will enhance MSME development and bolster schemes for employment in textile, transport, agriculture, leather and hospitality sector. The SMEs in pharmaceuticals and logistics are bound to experience accelerated growth as Healthcare hold high on Arun Jaitley's agenda in the Budget 2017. Ease of Doing Business for SMEs will thrive with push for infra in digital economy, Aadhaar-enabled payment systems, m-wallets and digital payments.
A lower borrowing cost and increased access to credit is on the anvil as a result of the government policy on currency and Banks being well nourished. With FIPB being abolished and maximum FDI coming from the automatic route it will aid diversified business. MSMEs with annual turnover upto Rs. 50 crore will have to pay only 25% tax. Tax exemptions will be a relief to our working class and promote digital economy and affordable housing.
To increase digital payments acceptance cash purchase and payments for revenue and capital expenditure limited to Rs 10000 for businesses, is a very good move.
Even for individual or personal consumption a limit of Rs 3 lakh has been imposed on cash. Both will help generate more transparency and thus more revenue in times to come. I would call this move to be even better than demonetization.
For many micro sized businesses the Presumptive tax rate has been reduced from 8% to 6% for non-cash receipts of upto Rs 2 Crore is also very good and would lead to less cash and transparency as well as help in broad basing the tax base. 25% higher budgetary allocation for spending on infrastructure will also be a big boon to job creation and economic revival. The better infrastructure will help in doing business.
Ms. Debadutta Upadhyaya (Co-founder, Timesaverz.com)
A Budget less on Micro economics and more on Macro economics.
Reduction of Income tax rate from 10% to 5% for individuals in income bracket 2.5 lacs to 5 lacs is an incentive for honest tax paying individuals. Compensated with surcharge of 10% on Individuals for whose annual income is Rs.50 lacs to 1 crore - Super rich definition has been widened.
25% corporate tax rate for MSME's with 50 crore turnover, - Indian Companies to benefit. Not much for Big players.
Government to cut or eliminate excise duty on manufacturing of micro ATMs, finger print readers, biometric cards and PIN cards and further, import duty may also be reduced on components used in the manufacturing - Good move which would pave way for E commerce start ups to explore and expend less on these machines to go DIGITAL"
Mr. Sanjay Shroff, Managing Director & Founder, Styletag.com
"The budget has an eye on fiscal prudence . The boosts towards infra spends and railway safety will show results in times to come. The focus on agricultural and rural development is welcome. Beginnings towards rationalization of taxes both for corporate and individual incomes is a step in the right direction. This will help both the common man which falls under the middle income group and the smaller companies.The move towards cleaning up political funding is very welcome. For us personally, from an e-commerce industry point of view, the demonetization and the thrust on digital economy is very promising. It will open up further opportunities and a wider market for us.The ceiling of 3 lakhs on cash transactions will also go a long way in ensuring better compliance and shift towards the digital economy."