Budget 2023 Expectations LIVE Updates: FM Expected to Announce Tax Benefits for Salaried, Middle Class

Apurva Sule, Chief Business Officer, Heaps Health, said, “The National Health Authority (NHA), in its most recent announcement, plans to introduce a new system wherein the performance of the hospitals empaneled with the central flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY) will be graded on value-based health care rather than the volume of services they can provide. Grading hospitals will undoubtedly raise the standard of care, but it also requires real-world monitoring systems that concentrate on patient care management and prompt treatment for the most vulnerable patients, particularly those at high risk. New-age technology, such artificial intelligence, that enhances patient outcomes, lowers the risk of hospital readmission, needs to be the area of focus in the upcoming union budget in 2023. While the Government is already making a good amount of expenditure with regards to healthcare, the same needs to be now efficiently and effectively allocated/deployed to moving towards a value-based care model which will contribute to the healthcare system of the country as a whole.”

Apurva Sule, Chief Business Officer, Heaps Health, said, “The National Health Authority (NHA), in its most recent announcement, plans to introduce a new system wherein the performance of the hospitals empaneled with the central flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY) will be graded on value-based health care rather than the volume of services they can provide. Grading hospitals will undoubtedly raise the standard of care, but it also requires real-world monitoring systems that concentrate on patient care management and prompt treatment for the most vulnerable patients, particularly those at high risk. New-age technology, such artificial intelligence, that enhances patient outcomes, lowers the risk of hospital readmission, needs to be the area of focus in the upcoming union budget in 2023. While the Government is already making a good amount of expenditure with regards to healthcare, the same needs to be now efficiently and effectively allocated/deployed to moving towards a value-based care model which will contribute to the healthcare system of the country as a whole.”

Omar Sherief Mohammad, Cluster Head India, Middle East & Africa, Roche Diabetes Care, said, “Increased budgetary allocations for programs such as the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases & Stroke that aim to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases (NCDs), are crucial. Diseases such as diabetes pose a public health challenge that needs regular screening for detection, as well as sustained adherence to treatment and management. There is a need to monitor the continuous engagement of health systems, at all levels, to ensure a continuum of care. Moreover, screening and treatment at primary health centres via Ayushman Bharat needs to be scaled up. Ensuring adequate funds for the rollout of the National Digital Health Mission will also help capture and analyze healthcare data, in line with the current data privacy regulations. This will help the country in two ways. Firstly, it will enable data generation that can help build policies for end-to-end healthcare support such as early screening and diagnostics programmes along with reimbursement of NCD care, etc. Secondly, the adoption of a digital framework will improve the delivery of targeted and personalized care leading to improved prognosis and an overall reduction in the health-economic burden in the future. A significant increase in healthcare spending will aid the implementation of a multifaceted approach that drives awareness, early diagnosis, adherence to treatment, better preventive measures, counselling, and overall access to quality healthcare.”

Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, KRAFTON, Inc. India, said, “The gaming industry is at the cusp of a major transformation and has seen several favorable measures from the government in the recent past. As indicated by the recent official recognition for Esports, the government is making provisions for the comprehensive growth of the sector and the 2023 Union Budget is expected to bring impactful allocations for the industry. The next steps involve devoting resources to skilling, training, and creating career opportunities in gaming and furthering budgetary allocations towards AGVC to encourage industry collaboration and promote content creation. It is also the need of the hour to implement a fair taxation policy. With promising competitive talent when it comes to developers, programmers, AI capabilities and more, India has the potential to emerge as a significant gaming hub and we hope the provisions of 2023 budget allocate resources to boost the holistic growth of the industry.”

Ravish Naresh, CEO, and Co-founder, Khatabook, said, “With the current economic outlook, we hope for friendly policies in this Budget to promote start-up investments and growth. Favorable tax policies such as increasing the GST exemption slab and reducing minimum alternate tax will ensure start-ups have more working capital. The start of 2023 has been volatile for the start-up ecosystem. Hence, the Budget should help start-ups streamline their cash flows effectively and achieve efficient operating models. I am optimistic about India’s economic outlook and believe it to be an attractive option for international investors. Relaxed regulatory norms will encourage investments and facilitate the ease of doing business.”

Sangeet Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, Addverb Technologies, said, “New India will not remain a mere consumer of technology but will play an active role in the development and implementation of that technology,’ said PM Modi. Unprecedented growth has been witnessed across industries, especially in terms of emerging technologies like AI, ML, IoT, robotics and most importantly 5G. According to a recent report by Gartner, the Indian information Technology Industry is expected to grow at rate of 2.6% in 2023.

In order to stay competitive in the global market, the government is anticipated to expand investments in digital and automation technologies. Additionally, a decrease in income taxes will help the nation keep its top personnel. To provide more advanced and innovative solutions for bringing in sustainable business models, startup and technology investments would be prioritised.”

Sunil Yadav, CEO of PlayerzPot, said, “With the Union Budget 2023 right around the corner, we eagerly look forward to its impact on the gaming industry. The upcoming Budget can create a more favorable business environment with regards to GST, ease of doing business and that can attract talent from Tier II and Tier III cities too.”

He added that India’s gaming industry is expected to reach $8.6 billion by 2027, demonstrating its huge potential for growth. By giving it the attention and importance it deserves, the industry in India is poised for even greater success. In this Budget, we hope roadblocks like bans and a lack of regulations get addressed. The AVGC Task Force that was announced last year is a great step to catalyse the industry’s growth, but we believe there is scope to do more in this regard. What will also be interesting is the outcome of a recent proposal in the online gaming policy that involves establishing a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) to handle the registration and approval of games. Primarily, what the industry needs is a proper set of guidelines and rules to grow further.”

“The Budget 2023 comes at a time of heightened global uncertainty and fear of economic downturn across most major economies. The push towards exports may see a temporary slowdown, and economic growth may rely more on domestic consumption. Hence, the tax policies may need to be more inclusive, leaving higher disposable income in the hands of a larger base of the population,” Uttam Malani, executive director at Centuary Mattress, said.

Managing inflation adequately should continue to be foremost in the mind of our FM, who will need to walk a tightrope between growth & inflation pressures, Malani said.

“On the corporate side, the Budget should continue to prioritise capital deployment & infrastructure creation by encouraging/incentivising private sector investments; which will help in job creation while also strengthening India’s long term growth prospects. Simplification & ease of compliance (particularly with the GST regime settling in) should be another priority for this budget,” he added.

“The agriculture industry contributes significantly to the Indian economy and the Indian government is aggressively encouraging as many people as possible involved in this area to incorporate digitalization. The approach to lessen farming’s impact on the environment and the impending economic recession in some areas is to digitise the agricultural sector. Because of this, we anticipate businesses and governments all over the world to increase their technology investments in agriculture, leveraging developments in cloud computing, earth observation, remote sensing, data, and AI/ML models, to help the industry unlock new possibilities and address current agricultural issues,” Vicky Dodani, founder of Agrizy.

He added that this can greatly increase the production of food, increase profitability, and lower operating expenses, all of which are essential for sustainability. In September 2021, the government launched the Digital Agriculture Mission 2021–2025. As part of this mission, five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were established, all of which intended to advance digital agriculture initiatives in the nation.

In India, there is a major gap between what the market wants and what farmers produce. This gap needs to be solved to achieve the Government’s declared target of doubling farmer profitability. The agrifood processing industry plays a major role in filling this gap by increasing the shelf life and thereby reducing the wastage. India has a long way to go in this regard. For e.g. only 3% of the total F&V output is actually processed in the country which is much lesser than some of the developed economies. Recent market research assessments predict that the worldwide agritech market will expand between 2020 and 27 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12%. Along with the US and China, India is a competitor in this market.”

Nishant Behl, founder and CEO of Expand My Business, said, “We are looking forward to the minimum alternative tax (MAT) for eligible startups be reduced to 9 per cent from 15 per cent. If the minimum alternative tax rate (MAT) for qualified companies is lowered, it can help startups meet their daily working capital needs, especially during nascent stages.”

He added that startups in IT and ITeS sector require greater support, and therefore the government must pertain to the per diem allowance threshold, safe harbour rules, and advance pricing agreements, thereby increasing the ease of doing business. In case of public market cap, startups need equalization of long-term capital gains tax for unlisted shares and public stock investments, which is a long-standing demand.

The market succumbed to major selling pressure on January 27, with the benchmark indices falling nearly 2 percent despite a positive trend in global peers, as participants turned cautious ahead of key events next week – Union Budget 2023 and the US Federal Reserve meeting.

Bears took a strong lead for a second consecutive session, which resulted in a loss of Rs 11.75 lakh crore of wealth during 2 sessions, as the BSE market capitalisation fell from Rs 280.39 lakh crore, to 268.64 lakh crore as of 14:46 hours IST.

“Creating a health infrastructure for a 1.4 billion population is not an easy task. Over these years, the government has been investing hugely and has taken steps to ensure that health facilities are available for the entire population. This includes the introduction of ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and many initiatives which were implemented during the COVID-19 times,” Sudhir P Srivastava, founder and chairman & CEO of S S Innovations said.

It is important that by just merely importing health equipment and paying a huge amount of money may not be in the interest of India in the long run. “We expect the Government of India, through the Finance Minister and the Health Minister, will ensure that this budget will give additional benefits and will focus on indigenously developing medical infrastructure such as surgical robotics and other medical equipment etc. in India,” Srivastava added.

“A parity between taxation of debt mutual fund and listed bonds is required, as the listed bonds get a preferential tax treatment of 10 per cent LTCG rate and 12 months holding period vis-a-vis LTCG on debt MF units being taxed at 20 per cent and a holding period of 36 months. The surcharge applicable on dividends paid to non-corporates on equity shares is capped at 15 per cent, while the rate could be as high as 37 per cent for dividends paid by equity oriented MFs. This inconsistency needs to be addressed,” said Punit Shah, partner at Dhruva Advisors, said.

With the Indian government prioritizing and broadening its healthcare vision while working towards ensuring accessible, affordable, and inclusive healthcare for all, we will be taking a leap towards NHP-2017, which promised an increase in health expenditure by the government from the existing 1.15% to 2.5 % by 2025. We are hopeful that as the country braces itself for the G20 leadership, the clarion call of ‘One Health One Nation’ given by the Prime Minister along with the progression towards SDG’s, will provide an impetus to further boost the health and social sector in the forthcoming Union Budget of 2023-24, says Kamal Narayan Omer, CEO, IHW Council

Jyoti Bhandari, Founder and CEO Lovak Capital, said: “Several tax experts have proposed that the government raise the basic exemption limit under the Income Tax Act to Rs 5 lakh. The basic income tax exemption limit is currently set at Rs 2.5 lakhs per year under both the new and old income tax regimes. Individuals earning up to Rs. 2.5 lakh are exempt from paying taxes. Changes made in previous budgets effectively tax-free annual income up to Rs 5 lakh. The basic exemption limit, however, has not been revised since fiscal year 2014-15.”

The Finance Ministry is reportedly considering proposals for the benefit of the middle class. Experts are of the view that the government should raise the basic exemption limit as well as the standard deduction limit for the salaried middle class. These measures are necessary to help the middle class cope with the elevated inflation levels.

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in late morning trade on Friday after recording a rebound in the previous session. The BSE Sensex slumped nearly 1,100 pts reflecting heightened tension on Dalal Street. The fear gauge index India VIX shot up to 13 per cent ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget and US Fed meeting outcome next week.