Budget 2016: In India, the Information Technology (IT) sector is the cornerstone of the entire Indian economy and holds unquestionable relevance across all sectors. The IT industry has been on an upswing following the various initiatives rolled out by the BJP government and in the last two years has developed as an world-class industry that is contributing significantly to the country’s economic growth, exports and employment generation.
While the Narendra Modi led government’s successfully positioning of India as an investment hub and a business friendly destination, the target to bring back investor confidence has turned out to be quite fruitful for the IT/ BPO industry since last year’s budget announcement. Additionally, the sector believes that the government should announce special monetary inducements so that software companies can capitalize in research and progress and can develop software products at par with the global standards.
The ecommerce and IT sectors are expecting big things in the 2016-17 budget and expectation is that government balances growth with policy and regulatory outline which will in turn provide sustainable development opportunities. Greater funds allocation for Digital India as well as increasing access to internet connectivity in rural India will also fuel economic growth by creating income-generating activities which in turn will boost domestic spending. There is a great deal of positivity surrounding the budget and all sectors are looking at it for not only sustaining the initiatives of the last couple of years but also adding more in its wake.
By Anil Chawla, Managing Director, EIS, Verint Systems