India is preparing to become a $5-trillion economy in the next five years. “We are poised to, we aspire to become a $10-trillion economy in the next eight years,” said union minister Goyal, sounding an even-more optimistic note.

The highlight of the budget is the announcement of a National Center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the AI portal. “The interim Budget 2019 with its focus on the futuristic technology – artificial intelligence – is heartening news,” said Shekhar Sanyal, director and country head of the IET.

“We are at the cusp of technological disruption and a national program with the portal on artificial intelligence will bring India on the global map and help build an ecosystem to fuel its ambition to become a world leader in AI in the coming years. We at The IET are particularly happy, as we are aligned with the government’s focus on new technologies and will extend our full support through continuous efforts from the IET IoT panel.”

The National AI Centre is a welcome move and goes beyond expanding the scope of AI investments. Creating an AI ecosystem will help in last-mile inclusion. “There could have been more focus on education and skilling. Ed-tech startups are uniquely positioned to help bridge this skill gap as the onus of skilling continues to lie on individuals and corporate,” added Vineet Chaturvedi, co-founder, Edureka, a global e-learning company.

As a trade body, Nasscom also reacted to the budget announcements: “In line with the vision for a digital India, Budget 2019 focused on giving an impetus to technology integration and penetration, with the plan to convert one lakh villages into ‘digital villages’ over the next five years, introduce electronic tax return assessment in the next two years, comprehensive digitisation for customs transactions and support for three lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) to render digital services.” Nasscom is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce for the IT-BPM industries in India.

What is important is to look for sustainable measures for India to be an investment destination for economic development. To make this a reality, our taxes will have to be favourable and policies will have to be incentivised for global players.

Understandably, the interim budget has focused on immediate measures like smoothening out income tax rules. In the next two years, assessment of all income tax returns will be processed electronically without human interface. “The emphasis on increasing tax-paying base and reducing tax burden on middle class, in addition to Goods and Services Tax (GST) shows the government’s overall commitment to plug leakages and improve tax collection processes. The reform of the tax environment shows rapid strides towards efficiency and transparency,” explained Suman Reddy Eadunuri, MD, Pegasystems India.

To drive the much-needed growth, the loan terms for small businesses are favourable. Special provisions for less-served communities like the farmers have been provided. This includes farm loan waiver and even direct cash transfers to farmers who are under debt. The government said it will send Rs 6,000 to small farmers directly into their bank accounts in a scheme that will be funded 100 per cent by the centre. Called the PM Kishan programme, the initiative will reach out to those small farmers who have less than two hectares of land. 

“The Government, in its Budget 2019 today has articulated a compelling vision for India, both for the medium and long term. It has provided direction and a finite and ambitious goal for India of becoming a $10-trillion economy by 2030. I look forward to the details and to the Government marking progress against it. For the short term, this is a budget that has something for everyone, but more particularly the middle class, the agricultural community and marginalised sections of society,” said Anil Valluri, President, India & SAARC Operations, NetApp.

“The sense of inclusion – financial as well as welfare – is welcome and much needed to build the force for a stronger nation that can march towards what I call Vision 2030,” concluded Valluri.

India is preparing to become a $5-trillion economy in the next five years. “We are poised to, we aspire to become a $10-trillion economy in the next eight years,” said union minister Goyal, sounding an even-more optimistic note.

The highlight of the budget is the announcement of a National Center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the AI portal. “The interim Budget 2019 with its focus on the futuristic technology – artificial intelligence – is heartening news,” said Shekhar Sanyal, director and country head of the IET.

“We are at the cusp of technological disruption and a national program with the portal on artificial intelligence will bring India on the global map and help build an ecosystem to fuel its ambition to become a world leader in AI in the coming years. We at The IET are particularly happy, as we are aligned with the government’s focus on new technologies and will extend our full support through continuous efforts from the IET IoT panel.”

The National AI Centre is a welcome move and goes beyond expanding the scope of AI investments. Creating an AI ecosystem will help in last-mile inclusion. “There could have been more focus on education and skilling. Ed-tech startups are uniquely positioned to help bridge this skill gap as the onus of skilling continues to lie on individuals and corporate,” added Vineet Chaturvedi, co-founder, Edureka, a global e-learning company.

As a trade body, Nasscom also reacted to the budget announcements: “In line with the vision for a digital India, Budget 2019 focused on giving an impetus to technology integration and penetration, with the plan to convert one lakh villages into ‘digital villages’ over the next five years, introduce electronic tax return assessment in the next two years, comprehensive digitisation for customs transactions and support for three lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) to render digital services.” Nasscom is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce for the IT-BPM industries in India.

What is important is to look for sustainable measures for India to be an investment destination for economic development. To make this a reality, our taxes will have to be favourable and policies will have to be incentivised for global players.

Understandably, the interim budget has focused on immediate measures like smoothening out income tax rules. In the next two years, assessment of all income tax returns will be processed electronically without human interface. “The emphasis on increasing tax-paying base and reducing tax burden on middle class, in addition to Goods and Services Tax (GST) shows the government’s overall commitment to plug leakages and improve tax collection processes. The reform of the tax environment shows rapid strides towards efficiency and transparency,” explained Suman Reddy Eadunuri, MD, Pegasystems India.

To drive the much-needed growth, the loan terms for small businesses are favourable. Special provisions for less-served communities like the farmers have been provided. This includes farm loan waiver and even direct cash transfers to farmers who are under debt. The government said it will send Rs 6,000 to small farmers directly into their bank accounts in a scheme that will be funded 100 per cent by the centre. Called the PM Kishan programme, the initiative will reach out to those small farmers who have less than two hectares of land. 

“The Government, in its Budget 2019 today has articulated a compelling vision for India, both for the medium and long term. It has provided direction and a finite and ambitious goal for India of becoming a $10-trillion economy by 2030. I look forward to the details and to the Government marking progress against it. For the short term, this is a budget that has something for everyone, but more particularly the middle class, the agricultural community and marginalised sections of society,” said Anil Valluri, President, India & SAARC Operations, NetApp.

“The sense of inclusion – financial as well as welfare – is welcome and much needed to build the force for a stronger nation that can march towards what I call Vision 2030,” concluded Valluri.