Bengaluru 26th July 2024: Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCIC) Deloitte Post Budget Analysis of the Union Budget 2024 at Bengaluru featured a panel discussion moderated by Sriram Ranganathan, VP & Global Tax Head, Wipro Limited. Eminent panellists included K R Sekar, Past President, BCIC and Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, M D Ranganath, Chairman, Catamaran, Ms. Aparna C Iyer, Chief Financial Officer, Wipro Limited and Bhaskar Anand Rao, Chief Financial Officer, Bangalore International Airport Limited.
Terming the budget as an all-round growth-oriented budget, K R Sekar, Past President BCIC said, “BCIC has been instrumental in working closely with the Finance Department on issues like uniform TDS rates, decriminalization of TDS and abolition of angel tax. In order to improve employability, while the government has given us direction, the industry needs to step up and create more opportunities for employment and accepting more interns and give them hands-on training. While the government is committed to ease of doing business, what we need to see is concrete action. MSMEs have significant presence in rural parts of the country. The government should also consider setting up or development of financial institutions to give rural MSMEs access to formal credit. This would lead to added employment opportunities in these areas. While the budget has incorporated several measures to boost demand, it has not addressed the issue of increasing consumption. While the short-term capital gains tax of 20% is not in line for small investors, the removal of indexation benefit needs to be reviewed as it may impact small/ middle class investors. We are hoping that the government will give more impetus on R&D as it is critical for the growth of country.”
K Subramanian, Subject Matter Expert, in his address said, “Rationalisation of TDS is a very welcome step as it will put more money in people’s hands. Individual taxation could be better. Angel tax has outlived its utility, and it is good that it has been abolished. We will be making a representation to the government requesting buy back tax to be linked to accumulated profits”.
Describing the budget as well thought through with focus on Viksit Bharat 2047, Aparna C Iyer, Chief Financial Officer, Wipro Ltd. said, “The budget has fiscal prudence with credibility to the numbers. Emphasis is on skilling, which is a step in the right direction. Adequate skill development programs will help generate the required talent for a particular industry. The government has also given importance to continuous ease of doing business. How the government goes about implementation will largely define the increase in job creation and employment in future. Focus on infrastructure in the right areas will contribute to the increase in jobs and overall growth of the economy”
M D Ranganath, Chairman, Catamaran said, “This budget’s focus is on growth, with twin engines emphasising investment and demand generation, with a long term and sustainable approach to job creation. This will create more disposable income, and lead to consumption and demand generation. While the budget has addressed the credit flow issues for MSMEs through cash flow-based financing, there could have been more focus on the ease of doing business. Most MSMEs do not have the bandwidth to address the large number of regulatory compliances. This holds true for startups as well. Additionally, the government needs to look at tax assessments based on risk rather than on other factors.”
Bhaskar Anand Rao, Chief Financial Officer, Bangalore International Airport Limited in his view said that consistency of policy is of utmost importance. “This budget reflects a continuation of policy, with thrust on infrastructure. While infrastructure demand has always been high, we have been lagging on the supply side. The focus for development must be both from the government and private sector, if we are to have world-class infrastructure. There is also a crying need for academia to train people and make them ready for employment. This is as much a requirement as infrastructure.”
Dr. S Devarajan, President, BCIC and Senior Vice President, TVS Motor Co Limited in his opening remarks said that government and industry must work in synergy in order to achieve the common growth goal. “It is time for all stakeholders to work together to optimally benefit and ensure the time bound implementation of the budget for the country’s future growth. It is heartening to note that many of the recommendations from BCIC in areas of MSME, startup, ease of doing business, tax rationalisation and sustainability have been incorporated in the budget. BCIC will provide all required support to the government to work out suggestions and apparent issues that have not been addressed in the budget.”
The session was attended by around 150 members from cross section of industry verticals.