Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2022 unveiled the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23. Here are some post-budget excerpts from industry experts:

Rajesh Khosla, president and CEO, AGI glaspac

The Indian government this year has presented a growth-oriented budget with a special focus on boosting the manufacturing sector to create massive employment opportunities and to maintain India’s status as world’s fastest-growing economy. The concessional corporate tax for newly incorporated manufacturing companies is a positive move towards promoting the Make in India initiative as this will encourage new manufacturing industries as well as increase private investment in this industry.

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in 14 sectors to create 6 million jobs can be predicted to improve the performance of the manufacturing industries in the country by 4x in the next four quarters. We congratulate FM Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a budget that has laid a roadmap for the economic revival of India – despite the pandemic crisis.

Saurabh Agarwal, senior director and general manager, label and packaging materials, South Asia, Avery Dennison

The Union Budget for fiscal 2022-23 is certainly a well-balanced and progressive budget that is focussed on creating jobs and employability, boosting manufacturing, help agri-economy and infrastructure development. The Budget has given a boost to the railway & infrastructure sector with the plan to develop 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains and expansion of national highway network by 25,000 kms by 2022-23 under Gati Shakti plan. This is a welcome step that would lead to the new growth trajectory of the economy and create more job opportunities for the youth.

Also, the Govt’s decision to launch Digital DESH e-portal for the skilling, reskilling, and upskilling of the youth is definitely a great incentive keeping in mind the importance of upskilling and reskilling in the present scenario. Overall, this budget assures and advances the opportunity for Atma Nirbhar Bharat amid the pandemic period.

Neeraj Jain, CFO, Cosmo Films

We welcome the comprehensive budget announced by the finance minister to support the Indian economy. The Union Budget 2022 comes with a promise for the overall growth and revival of the economy. This year’s budget demonstrates the commitment by the government to strengthen infrastructure and employment creation. An increase in CAPEX expenditure to 7.5 lakhs cr from Rs 5.54 lakhs cr will boost economic growth and is very positive. Target fiscal deficit for FY 22-23 at 6.4% of GDP is also aligned with the larger goal of economic growth without much impacting the financial.

We are also eagerly looking forward to new legislation on SEZ units to simplify the SEZ operations.

Kuldeep Malhotra, deputy managing director, sales and OP marketing division, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India

The last two years have accelerated digital adoption across industries, making technology a necessity for organizations to survive and thrive in today’s evolving digital-first world. We at Konica Minolta, firmly appreciate the step the government has taken towards the technology up-gradation and digitization for manual processes in this union budget. The budget has focused on the key element that is productivity enhancement. We truly believe that the collaborative efforts of central and state Governments to generate more entrepreneurial opportunities will help our customers as well to be a part of the digital ecosystem where they can reskill themselves and be a part of digitization.

Rajesh Bhatia, group president (finance and accounts) and CFO at UFlex

The 2022 budget echoes India’s mission to become ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ which is encouraging for organizations like ours that have always been at the forefront to highlight Indian talent and generate growth for the economy from international markets through our businesses and manufacturing plants abroad. The measures that will be undertaken hereon will be beneficial for our economy in the long term, and will also help the growth of the manufacturing sector in India. By incentivizing exports, India is enabling expansion in the export sector and promoting locally produced and sourced components which is a positive step forward.