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“We are glad that the FM has unveiled
the roadmap for
with a definite date for implementation, which
will be April 2011. Unification of the rate on excise duty and the
service tax has been a step in the right direction towards
implementation of the GST. The rate of service tax as well as that of
excise duty will now be 10 percent. This will also help mitigate the
issue of CENVAT overflow for manufacture of IT products in the
country. We have welcomed the setting up of the Technology Advisory
Group under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani for monitoring
effective IT implementation in projects of National eminence.”
Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director,
MAIT
“This year's budget is aimed at a
positive direction. The impressive growth of the manufacturing sector
in the third quarter of the current year has reinforced that the
economy is reviving but we need to move ahead with caution. With the
continued support from government on stimulating the economic
recovery, the industry will be able to strengthen itself further. The
Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) is a
recommendable initiative of the Government and a step closer towards
e-governance. In addition, for MNC's, simplifying the FDI policy
would help to improve the overall investment environment. For the
common man, the reduction of customs duty, central excise duty and
special additional duty in certain goods and commodities critical to
SMEs and SMBs will be beneficial for the Indian household. The tax
slab for the personal income and investment will also give a boost to
the average mid-level income group.
Andrew Horne, MD, Xerox India
“This year's budget was mostly a
calm budget for the IT industry. The good part is that it reflects a
strong flavor of social inclusion signaled by the focus on
development fund and allocation for the education segment. This is a
welcome move and bodes well for uniform social growth. The attention
to infrastructure development is a continued note in the budget
bouquet, and one that has shown results already.”
Rajesh Janey, President-Sales,
India & SAARC, NetApp
“The
Government was in an unenviable position to withdraw some of
the stimulus to reign in the fiscal deficit, so some not so popular
decisions were expected like increase in excise duty. However the
good thing is that the increase is not as steep as the drop, so in
that sense yes it has met the expectations. It was expected that the
Government will announce some benefits for users of green technology,
besides just solar panels. Either the green products should have had
some concessional/lower duty or corporates adopting proven green
standards/compliance should have been given some tax benefits. This
would have encouraged higher/faster adoption of green technology
amongst end-consumers.”
Jayesh Kotak, VP-Product
Marketing, D-Link India
“Given that the industry is still in
a recovery mode the tax incentive should have been extended. The
rolling back of excise duties may affect sales. There has been no
proposal to abolish Special Additional Duty (SAD) across products
which is discouraging. We are glad that the roadmap for GST has been
finally unveiled, which is very critical for creating a single-India
market. We hope for better involvement and engagement of the
Government with the industry, as the finer details of the GST is
worked out.”
Rajan Sharma, GM, GIGABYTE India
“Our FM has done a commendable job of
partially withdrawing the stimulus by balanci
it
with various schemes which should accelerate GDP growth.
The focus on the rural economy with substantial and higher
allocations will more than make up for the slack in demand, if any,
due to the marginal increase in the excise duty rate. This budget
will lead to an increase in the feel good factor which is believed to
play an important role in increasing the demand of consumer products.
It is very heartening to note that the cost of mobile phones will
come down and will further boost demand and encourage local
manufacturing. I am disappointed, however, by the lack of adequate
attention to promote the local manufacturing of IT hardware and to
increase domestic consumption of PCs.
I feel that the economy now requires for inclusive growth not only
inputs in agriculture and rural infrastructure but also in IT
literacy and IT infrastructure.”
Ramesh A Vaswani,
Excecutive Vice Chairman, Intex Technologies India
“We are delighted that the Finance
Minister has recognized the key role our industry can play in driving
technology led inclusive growth across the country, apart from
directly contributing as an employment generator and foreign exchange
earner. According to the announcement of the Technology Advisory
Group under
Nilekani, automation of central excise, GST and
commercial taxes will enable the vision of citizen centric
governance. Our industry will partner with the government to drive
inclusive growth within India, while continuing to be the leader
around the world in IT and business process solutions.”
Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, NASSCOM
“There are numerous positives for our
industry in this budget, particularly on simplification. The removal
of anomaly in Section 10AA of the SEZ Act and the Finance Minister's
reaffirmation on the importance of SEZs will help the industry to
take forward its SEZ plans across the country. The enhanced deduction
on R&D investment will propel greater thrust on innovation and IP
creation helping India to realize its vision of being the global
R&D
services hub. Also, the reduction in personal income tax will greatly
benefit the employees in our industry who will help to drive both
enhanced savings and consumption within India. At the same time, the
clarification on duty applicability for pre-packaged software as well
as service tax refunds will provide the much necessary simplification
of policies.”
Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM