Focus on women, young entrepreneurs, startups

Vijay C Roy

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22

In the current business scenario, startups and IT sector expect a strong push towards policies promoting innovation and congenial ecosystem by introducing bold policy interventions. Let’s have a look what the sector expects from the Budget:

Simplify tax complexities

Providing right incentives to the industry will be the key for the country’s economic revival. “One such incentive is to simplify the tax-related complexities to encourage global trade of software products to and from India. Efforts in this direction will help increase revenue for the exchequer that can flow back into the country for socio-economic welfare,” said Sameer Nigam, CEO & co-founder, Stratbeans.

Focus on women

Balanced approach is needed for the startups. On the one hand, the government should support flailing businesses with tax benefits while on the other hand it should incentivise new businesses to grow. “A special focus on women and young entrepreneurs will create movement in the ecosystem and encourage innovation,” said Ritika Singh, founder and CEO of Kontent Factory.

Encourage startups

“Startups are set to be growth drivers of the economy. The government needs to devise policies that encourage them to focus on being profitable and sustaining themselves without riding on the investment and valuation bubble. I believe funded startups should have an obligation of turning into profit within 2-3 years else they should face a fine. This will force the founders and mentors to think hard about building a profitable company,” said Rohit Warrier, CEO and founder, Warrier Safe Shields.

Rationalise GST rates

“As a sport management startup, our vision is to make India a sporting nation and for that the GST slabs of 5, 12 and 18% should be reduced to 5%. Equipment used in international-level sports should be made GST-free,” said Jitendra Singh Rialch and Arshpreet Kaur, founders, Bogey Sports.

Ensure flow of capital

The startup ecosystem needs funds and capital more now than ever. The government needs to facilitate the capital inflow from all possible channels. The Budget should remove the corporate dividend distribution tax (DDT) or levy DDT at low rate to encourage foreign investors.