The first “paperless” union budget underlines our government’s focus on three key areas, including innovation, skill development, and digital governance. The budget has come with encouraging announcements for the healthcare, infrastructure, and innovation ecosystem. The move to provide a greater impetus to R&D with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore in the next five years will foster a culture of innovation, growth, and research. Furthermore, the focus on digital education, re-aligning the existing scheme of training programs, and partnering with UAE and Japan for skill development will help India in producing high-quality digital talent. The proposal to build a world-class fintech hub, digitization of railways, and first-ever digital census, reconfirms the government’s emphasis on creating a digital economy. Furthermore, the emphasis on technology, such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning-driven platform to enable e-courts and compliance management will go a long way in accelerating the nation’s digital initiatives.
Moving ahead, we look forward to the expansion of the scope of corporate tax across the board, simplification of GST, and special monetary incentives for product software companies.
