By: Krishanu Banerjee, Consultant, Public Sector Practice, Frost & Sullivan
Key Announcements Made in the Budget:
- Eighty livelihood business incubators and twenty technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE scheme to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries
- Annual Global Investors’ Meet to be organized
- ‘Nari tu Narayani’, ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’, and ‘Har Ghar Jal’ schemes
Overall Analysis:
To arrest the slowdown in the domestic economy, measures to boost investment and employment are necessary. With the launch of initiatives like ASPIRE and schemes like “Nari Tu Narayani”, it is encouraging to see direct government measures focused on boosting entrepreneurship and encouraging women’s participation to improve India’s growth trajectory. With a sharp eye to boosting FDI, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) will be used to organize Annual Global Investors’ Meet to attract global players to visit and invest in India. This is expected to be instrumental for start-up funding as well.
To encourage affordable housing for all, the Government has planned to construct 1.95 crore houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Raising the deduction claim slab on interest paid for ₹3.5 lakh per annum loans to buy an affordable house under ₹45 lakh, will provide an additional boost.
Since water scarcity is an ever-increasing concern, it is encouraging to see that Jal Shakti Ministry will work in tandem with the States towards ensuring India’s water security and providing access to safe drinking water to all.
The Government’s agenda for this year’s budget was to put India back in the growth trajectory. The citizens of India voted for a strong and stable government for the second term with the belief that the weakening growth and investment will gradually reverse, thus stabilizing the economy. The planned structural reforms announced today in the form of investment in infrastructure and digital economy, along with the measures to boost the entrepreneurial culture in the country, is a strong testament that the present Government is focused on turning around the economy. Asia’s third-largest economy is anticipated to be bullish in the next 5 years and may reach closer to the target of becoming the $5 trillion economy by 2024 or 2025.
Overall Impact: Positive
Top 5 – Expected Growth Drivers for 2019-20:
- Investment growth
- Boost to entrepreneurship
- Policy to eliminate FDI inflows restriction
- Strong structural reforms and citizen-centric schemes to promote inclusive growth
- Streamlining operations and consolidations of PSUs
For more information on this topic or to schedule an interview/interaction with our spokesperson, please email Priya George, Corporate Communications at priyag@frost.com.
