Budget 2024 - Pre Budget Expectation from Toprankers Eupheus Learning and the members of Entrepreneurs Organization

Mr. Amit Kapoor, Co-founder and CEO, Eupheus learning

“The transformative NEP 2020 and an elaborate NCF 2023 have mandated holistic and experiential learning for school students. It also involves intervention at the infrastructure level, digitalization being the key. This will involve even higher level of engagement of schools with the EdTech companies.

As we await the upcoming budget, a thoughtful GST policy, coupled with incentives will empower EdTech companies like ours to innovate and create tools and techniques for schools to implement these key mandates.”

Mr. Gaurav Goel, Co-founder and CEO, Toprankers

"As we sail into this year, our focus remains on bridging the social gap, providing quality education and enhancing the learning outcomes of students. With the upcoming union budget 2024, we eagerly anticipate allocations that boost the educational infrastructure, including cutting-edge technologies,  enhanced accessibility across diverse regions and a conducive regulatory environment for education technology players. 

These initiatives will play a key role in accomplishing the objectives of NEP 2020 and moving our nation towards a competitive global standing. I am confident that this budget will serve as a driving force, steering India towards a future where education becomes the cornerstone of progress and prosperity for all.''

Sumit Mani, Member, EO Gurgaon and Managing Director at Westway Electronics Ltd. 

"In light of fostering affordability and supporting the common man's access to essential electronic goods, we propose pivotal changes to the upcoming budget's tax structure for televisions. Presently, LED TVs above 32" are subjected to a hefty 28% GST. To alleviate this burden on consumers, we strongly advocate reducing the GST on all LED TVs above 32" to 18%. 

Additionally, open cells, crucial components for television manufacturing, currently face a 5% duty under IGCR imports. Recognizing the absence of domestic production, we recommend a significant reduction to 0% to encourage a more conducive environment for TV manufacturing within the country. 

These strategic adjustments not only align with the government's commitment to 'Make in India' but also prioritize the affordability of common man products, ensuring that essential electronics are more accessible to a broader spectrum of the population."

Barun Aggarwal, Member, EO Gurgaon, CEO and Founder, BreatheEasy Consultants Pvt Ltd

"Sustainability, decarbonisation and carbon neutrality are all important issues and have been spoken about in a big way by our Honorable Prime Minister.  We need to energise this entire sector by giving easier access to loans for start-ups in this sector.  

We need to see reduction in GST taxes for technologies that directly support the above issues.  And most importantly, we would like to see a push in the budget via allocation of funds towards development of technologies supporting  the above.  

More than our industry, the whole country and planet stand to benefit from the above.  The promises  made during COP28 and during the G20 summit need to be fulfilled and no better time to start than the present."

Niren Gupta, Member, EO Gurgaon, and MD, Energy Oilfield Tools Pvt. Ltd.

"2024 Budget is an interim budget, so we don’t expect too many big announcements. But it is also an election year, so there are chances of populist measures. Some of my hopes are as follows :

• Being an election year, we expect relief measures for rural and low income bracket citizens, as well as the farming sector. - This should be minimized as much as possible, as they result in diverting funds that could be used for infra development.
• Corporate Income Tax and LTCG/STCG on equities - These should be lowered or kept the same. Increasing either of these will be very hurtful for the economy, and the stock markets.
• Import Duties - For domestic manufacturers, its important to increase import duties, so they can compete with Chinese and other imported products.
• Export Benefits - These benefits should be increased to aide exporters and help them compete in the global markets.
• Other schemes like PLI - Should be promoted and their scope should be broadened to include more products and industries.
• While the government focused on promoting local manufacturing under the 'Make in India' initiative, investing in R&D is also crucial to facilitating development of advanced manufacturing processes and technologies and reducing dependency on other countries"

Armaan Siddiqui, Member EO Gurgaon, Joint managing director - Evergreen International Limited  

"As the Union Budget 2024-25 approaches, I urge the Finance Minister to strategically address key areas pivotal for economic growth and international competitiveness, particularly within the furniture manufacturing and export sector which currently stands at less than $2 billion but has the potential to cross $10 billion in the years to come due to the China +1 strategy. 

Firstly, it is imperative to sustain and fortify schemes like RoDTEP to support seamless export operations. Secondly, the introduction of a logistics subsidy is crucial to enhance our global competitiveness, especially when juxtaposed against countries like China and Vietnam."

"Additionally, a comprehensive reassessment of labor laws in India is essential, fostering a balanced framework that benefits both companies and workers. Furthermore, incentivizing manufacturing companies with significant CapEx through a reduced corporate tax rate of 15% can catalyze increased investments and industry growth. 

Lastly, the inclusion of handicraft/furniture industry in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme can provide the necessary boost for innovation and competitiveness; . A holistic budgetary focus on these key aspects will fortify our industry's global standing and contribute to the envisioned economic prosperity for the upcoming fiscal year."