Mr Manoj Mehta, Chairman,JIIF-JITO Incubation & Innovation  Foundation and Owner MTC group and Madhuban Announcement

  “The Budget gives a major boost to startups by promising to provide skills, incubation as well as initiate measures that will strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship in India. The Finance Minister laid down an objective of setting up 80 “livelihood business incubators” and 20 tech business incubators to create 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs under the agro rural industries. This is a very important measure for the Indian economy. An inordinately large number of Indians currently rely on agriculture for livelihood, and the move to boost entrepreneurship in the rural-agro space will help shift people out of core agricultural activities. Another major relief for startups is the easing of regulations on angel tax. The fact the government has promised not to scrutinize startups and their investors for valuations removes a major headache for investment-hungry startups.

Mr. Kewal Kapoor, Director & Creative Strategist, CHAI Kreative and Return of Million Smiles

“FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s first budget has given a generous boost to startups. The move by the finance minister to set up a TV program to be run by the startups themselves will help them get traction by venture capitalists, and aid in job creation, bringing down our historical high unemployment rates. The easing of regulatory norms for angel tax assessment will also provide welcome relief to the startup community, although an angel tax holiday would have gone a long way towards cementing the government’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship in line with the Startup India initiative.  The proposal to establish a central National Research Foundation to assimilate and disburse funds from all ministries is a long term strategy that will help optimally funnel public money for the purposes of research. The reduction of corporate tax to 25% for companies with an annual turnover up to Rs. 400 crores will provide a much needed financial relief for over 99 % of the companies, and we are glad that the finance minister brought it up in this budget.”