Budget 2022-23: India Inc seeks focus on job creation to spur growth

Mumbai, Jan 29: At a time when the economy is witnessing signs of revival from the pandemic blow, all eyes are on the major announcements that are expected to be made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the upcoming Union Budget, which will be presented on February in a paperless form. Tax sops, higher spends on infrastructure, public health and education, reduction in GST, and measures to soothe rising prices, among others are some of the announcements that the country is eagerly looking forward to in this Budget 2022-23. According to reports, over 50 million people are still unemployed as of December 2021. Industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has suggested that production linked incentive (PLI) Schemes should include an additional incentive rate based on jobs created. “The PLI schemes announced for 13 sectors have been gamechangers in catalyzing growth of these sectors. With the imperative to support jobs and create new employment as the country recovers from the pandemic, CII suggests that the Budget add a job-creation component to the incentive. CII also recommends that more employment-intensive sectors be brought under the purview of the PLI schemes which will greatly encourage investments in these sectors,” CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee, said. The incentives could be based on the proposed number of jobs being created in the project, giving higher weightage to job creation in the PLI schemes, the association said. Kotak Mahindra Bank Group President – Consumer Banking, Shanti Ekambaram, stated that while people and businesses are learning to live with it and shorter disruptions, there is worry about possible disruption in economic growth trajectory. “Global monetary policy has seen a reversal on the back of strong growth and strong inflation. We are likely to see rate hikes this year signaling the end of monetary accommodation. In this backdrop, we are optimistic that the government will make the right moves in Budget FY2023 to help the economy emerge stronger from a two-year old pandemic.” “We are expecting the Union Budget to continue to support growth over fiscal consolidation by continued focus on capital expenditure, rural development, pandemic-related healthcare, support to MSMEs, measures to boost green energy, and spending on public welfare. We do not expect any major changes in tax rates,” he added. According to Anil G Verma, Executive Director & President, Godrej & Boyce, while the private consumption is recovering slowly, the rural and semi-urban markets are slower to recover. “Inflation is a concern denting the disposable income of consumers. It has also affected business profitability over the past year and is likely to continue for the next 6 months. The new outbreak of Covid is also affecting consumer sentiment. We hope it will decline swiftly so that the growth momentum is sustained. We look forward to a far better year ahead with real growth over the pre-pandemic period,” he said. Rajiv Agarwal, Operating Partner (Infrastructure) Essar and Managing Director Essar Ports noted that the upcoming Budget should introduce various policy initiatives and the right set of incentives and support measures to accelerate the nation’s recovery. Pradeep Aggarwal Chairman – ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development said, “In the Union Budget 2021-22, we expect the government to double the amount of fund allocation for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to enable more people to realize the dream of owning a home and help the Government achieve the goal of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022. The Finance Minister will have to pay attention to the input tax credit, reduce the GST to single-digit on building material, and continue tax holiday for affordable housing developers. UNI