Union Budget 2017: Digitally Ambitious, Impact nothing Exceptional: IT partners

It was a bumpy start for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley when he came to Lok Sabha today to present the Union Budget for 2017-18, with some Opposition parties seeking its deferment in view of demise of a sitting member E Ahamed.

While parties like Congress, Left and RJD insisted on adjourning the House as a mark of respect to Ahamed, leader of Indian Union Muslim League who passed away this morning, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled in favor of Budget presentation today itself, saying it was a constitutional obligation.

Thereafter, it was a smooth sail even though members of Left parties staged a walkout. Some of them returned to the House soon after.

Taking on the critics of the government's decision to demonetize high value currencies, Jaitley quoted Mahatma Gandhi to say that "a right cause never fails".

"Kaale dhan ko bhi badalnaa padaa, aaj apna rang (Even black money had to change its colour today)," the Finance Minister said alluding to the measures taken to deal with illicit funds.

He described the merger of the Railways Budget with the General Budget as a "historic step".

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das hailed the Union Budget, saying despite challenges Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the best budget, focusing on villages, the poor, farmers, youth, women and social security.

J. A. Chowdary, Advisor IT & Special Chief Secretary to Chief Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh also quotes, "The transformative potential of Union Budget 2017 is enormous. Thanks to the initiatives proposed in the Budget, next-generation Knowledge Service Hubs such as Fintech Valley, Andhra Pradesh can emerge as growth magnets and growth drivers for the Indian economy. The thrust provided to digital transactions will propel the Fintech sector forward; when combined with other initiatives that support tax compliance, digital infrastructure or even rural electrification – the overall outcomes for India can be transformative, to say the least. I am confident that the next-generation knowledge service hubs will also become the hubs for ideas and innovation, while attracting skills, capital and academic institutions documenting, researching, furthering and spreading the knowledge that is created. For us at Fintech Valley, Vizag, it is inspiring to contribute to the realization of such a future, which we are committed to!."

Kshitij Kotak, MD of Grecells said its a great budget for common people, he elaborated some points of budget which will give great benefits to verticals.

• Startup promoters not having to hold 51% of voting rights for tax benefit will spur angel investment
• Profit linked deductions available to startups for 3 years out of 5 years being changed to 3 years out of 7 years will provide greater value creation and further spur angel investments
• SME Company below 50 crore 25% Income Tax from present @ 31% will benefit spending and rejuvenate SME to invest in technology for growth benefiting our industry
• Optical fibre connectivity in 1.5 Lakh gram panchayat, internet spread will create opportunity for companies like us to outsource technical work like providing server support, online support and remote infrastructure management to these village youth and benefit from lower cost and create better opportunities for those youth. Currently too, Indian small town talented youth are bagging overseas work in graphic designing, website, etc. - with optical fibre connectivity, they will have access to better opportunities in IT and IT enabled industries
• STRIVE program for vocational studies, science education, flexible curriculum means industries like ours will get ready talent from rural India
• Cyber security CERT-Fin emergency response against cyber attack for financial sectors will help partners in cyber security and forensics space
• One of the biggest evil of our times, customer non-payments and cheque bouncing will reduce with tough Negotiable Instruments Act that is being modified.

"Mumbai-based Trade Association of Information Technology (TAIT), the premier association of IT companies, welcomes the reduction of corporate tax for MSMEs and appreciates the big push for digital economy, cyber security measures and its belief in technology for achieving developmental goals. The GST implementation is promising and we look forward to it. The Union Budget 2017-18 has initiated growth and development of the IT industry." said Samir Mehta, Director, TAIT

VK Bhandari MD of Supertron thinks budget was well balanced, “there is no specific benefit for any bigger corporate. In India overall growth comes from IT industry and government is highly focused on digitalization and information technology. I think demand will be increased and it will benefit IT industry.”

He also added, “ deduction in tax for below 50 Cr turnover companies is also a good step.”

Quoting it as a budget for common man, Alok Gupta of Softmart, Delhi expressed his views, he said, "it was a standard budget, it has a something for everybody. the announcements were within expectations. basically, it  will help revive the market."

Rajesh Saboo, President of Nagpur IT association says that, "Government is mostly focused on digital initiations. though, budget will improve purchase power of people. So, it will benefit in a different way."

“The Union Budget 2017 has brought really good vibes. Digitalization can be seen as the major target this year”, said Basant Mehta, President, Jodhpur Computer Dealers Association. Basant added that it will be difficult for income tax defaulters now.

“As such there is no major changes made for IT sector via Budget 2017 but the Tax changes done could be a blessing”, said Inder Mohan Bhasker, Member, Jalandhar Computer Dealers Association (JCDA).

“Income Tax Relief is the major highlight of the Union Budget this time”, said Arun Kakkar, IT Dealer, Nutek Computers, Ghaziabad. Arun added after demonetization the IT market faced a major slow down, hopefully Budget 2017 will bring betterment to the same.