The Union Budget 2025 has the potential to significantly shape India’s economic trajectory by addressing industry-specific challenges and enabling opportunities for sustainable growth. Industry leaders from various sectors have shared their expectations for this critical budget, highlighting key areas that can drive innovation, employment, and global competitiveness.
Strengthening India’s Digital Backbone
India’s SaaS sector plays a crucial role in the nation’s digital transformation and technological leadership. Khadim Batti, Co-Founder and CEO of Whatfix, highlighted the sector’s growth trajectory and the importance of forward-thinking measures in the Union Budget 2025.
“India’s SaaS industry, powered by a solid and vibrant startup ecosystem, continues to drive the nation’s digital transformation and global technology leadership. With the Union Budget 2025 on the horizon, the sector anticipates forward-thinking measures that build upon the progressive policies introduced last year. The abolition of the angel tax in 2024 was a landmark reform, offering much-needed relief to startups during a funding winter. Continued investment in high-speed internet, state-of-the-art data centers, and initiatives supporting India’s digital currency push will be instrumental in ensuring seamless SaaS operations and reducing transaction costs. Strengthening India’s digital backbone is vital to unlocking new opportunities and driving innovation. India’s SaaS sector is well on its way to contributing $100 billion to the economy by 2030. By continuing to invest in regulatory simplifications, cutting-edge technologies, and talent development, the Union Budget 2025 can act as a catalyst for the next phase of growth.”
Cybersecurity
As India’s digital economy grows, cybersecurity remains a critical focus. Sharda Tickoo, Country Manager for India & SAARC at Trend Micro, emphasized the need for robust regulatory frameworks and strategic investments in cybersecurity technologies.
“Striking a balance between innovation and data protection through robust regulation framework will ensure that India remains an attractive destination for investment while safeguarding user privacy. The upcoming budget should also prioritize strategic investments in cutting-edge technologies such as advanced threat intelligence, detection and monitoring, AI-powered security, and quantum-safe cryptography. These investments will enhance our ability to defend against evolving threats while future-proofing our digital landscape. Ultimately, cybersecurity is a shared responsibility that requires collaboration across government, industry, and academia, and the budget must prioritize this collective effort.”
Healthcare
The healthcare and insurance sectors are calling for reforms to address workforce gaps and expand access, especially to the 400 million uninsured Indians. Satish Kannan, Co-founder and CEO of MediBuddy, advocated for focused reforms to enhance the healthcare infrastructure.
“As India approaches Budget 2025, it is crucial to prioritise reforms that address key gaps in our healthcare and insurance sectors. To support this, we advocate for a dedicated budget to upskill healthcare workers through specialised programs within existing skill development and internship initiatives. This will equip the workforce to deliver high-quality healthcare nationwide. Additionally, we propose performance-linked incentives (PLI) for healthtech platforms focused on digital health, AI-powered solutions, and remote diagnostics. These incentives will drive innovation and expand access, particularly in Tier 2 and 3 cities. India has a unique opportunity to strengthen its healthcare infrastructure, especially for the ‘missing middle’—over 400 million uninsured Indians. Expanding insurance coverage, OPD and wellness initiatives, especially for public and government sector employees, will be key.”
Bridging Skill Gaps for Industry 4.0
As India evolves with technological advancements, workforce development remains a priority. Manmeet Singh, CEO of FirstMeridian Global Services and Innovsource, called for initiatives to address skill gaps and support high-growth industries such as manufacturing, IT, and green energy.
“As we approach the Union Budget FY’25, the expectations are clear – a roadmap that balances fiscal prudence with growth acceleration. Businesses anticipate targeted incentives like the ELI (Employment Linked Incentives) announced in the last budget to boost formal fresh employment in the country. Focus on skill development initiatives, ITI upgradation, and hiring apprentices, especially in sectors like manufacturing, digital economy, and renewables/green energy. There is an expectation for the government to prioritize addressing workforce skill gaps by establishing new training institutes and bridging existing disparities in sectors such as IT, semiconductors, auto, telecom, MSME, agriculture, and healthcare with high growth potential. From a workforce solutions perspective, we look forward to initiatives that drive formal job creation and invest in skilling India’s workforce for Industry 4.0. This budget is a pivotal opportunity to empower India’s human capital, ensuring inclusive and sustained growth for the decade.”
Accelerating Innovation
AI and emerging technologies are central to India’s ambitions to lead in the digital age. Mijitha Muralidharan, Associate Director at Ascendion, emphasized the need for upskilling and regulation to support AI-driven innovation.
“IndiaAI’s mission to accelerate AI can only be achieved with specific upskilling. Along with the right funding, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) can support the implementation of precise rules and regulations. This will encourage innovation and establish India as a pioneer in the technology sector. In 2025, as we work with automation and AI-driven work culture, a focus and a high priority on funding research and development (R&D) for innovative technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) is crucial.”
Varun Babbar, Managing Director of Qlik India, further elaborated on AI’s transformative potential:
“As India advances toward its vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, AI’s role in driving transformative change across industries is crucial. The upcoming Union Budget presents a unique opportunity to prioritize investments in AI research, skill development, and digital infrastructure. These initiatives will empower businesses to innovate and position India as a global leader in AI-driven economic growth. Prioritizing robust data governance frameworks and designing AI systems with a human-centered approach—emphasizing fairness, transparency, and accountability—will be vital to addressing ethical concerns and mitigating risks such as deepfake misuse and job displacement.”
Taxation and Talent Retention
The fintech sector is looking for reforms that can aid talent retention and innovation, particularly through the taxation of employee stock options (ESOPs). Akshay Sarma, CFO of axio, discussed how streamlining ESOP taxation can help retain talent and support industry growth.
“The Indian government’s staunch support for startup and fintech players has been instrumental in driving financial inclusion and innovation. As we look to Budget 2025, we expect progressive reforms in ESOP taxation. Streamlining ESOP taxation by making amendments to the Income Tax Act would resolve cash flow issues of employees and greatly help fintech to attract and retain talent, thereby helping in the industry’s overall growth. This can be achieved if tax collection is done at the time of sale of such shares instead of collection on the employee’s notional income.”