Beyond the noise: What Indian entrepreneurs need from Budget?

In two days, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will announce what will be India’s first post-COVID-19 Budget. This is on the back of a very difficult year for companies across sectors, and a lot is riding on this year’s Budget. 

YourStory spoke to key stakeholders from the startup ecosystem to understand their asks and needs to enable entrepreneurs to continue innovating in critical areas and realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.  

Top policy and regulations needed to rev up the Indian startup ecosystem:

• Focus on attracting customers and capital, which are important for any startup to grow
• Government policy should be geared not just toward capital infusion but also enabling exits
• Need clarification on capital from China and Hong Kong 
• Speed up the overseas listing process; align it with global best practices
• SEBI should move quickly on the Innovators Growth Platform framework
• Make capital gains tax for startups the same as for public companies
• Subsidise innovation across companies, be it a startup or a large-sized company

In 2020, education systems all over the world faced their biggest challenge ever — COVID-19. In India, too, schools and other educational institutions had to shut down due to lockdown restrictions. 

While edtech startups stepped in to ensure continuity in learning, and students and teachers struggled to adapt to the ‘new normal,’ the government introduced the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

To deep dive into the expectations of the education sector, YourStory spoke to key stakeholders in this Budget 2021 roundtable.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Offering incentives to students, teachers and employers to accelerate the growth of online learning
• Ease compliance burden for edtech companies
• Encourage new-age lenders to capitalise on the online learning opportunities
• Lower the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on online programmes
• Train teachers to help them adapt to the increasing digital learning environment

While you are at it, you can also go through expectations from other edtech players, investors, and more.

For YourStory's multimedia coverage of Budget 2021, visit YourStory's Budget 2021 page.

The Interview 

The COVID-19 pandemic opened up a big business opportunity for building digital products, solutions, and platforms for SMBs. Traditionally hesitant to adopt any technology, at present, Indian SMBs are embracing it at a breakneck pace, and the potential for digital transformation seems promising.

On SMBStory’s Digital Playbook for SMBs, Hiren Shah, Founder and Chairman, Vertoz, and Logesh Velusamy, Founder and CEO, Effitrac, took a deep dive into building digital products for SMBs.

Startup Spotlight

Making car maintenance affordable and easy

For any car owner, one of the biggest worries is the service and maintenance of the car at the right price and to avail of quality spare parts on time. And, helping such car owners is Pune-based SparesHub. The ecommerce platform for automobile parts caters to B2B customers and claims to offer genuine spare parts online. In fact, it assures same-day delivery to service centres, workshops, and fleet owners in Pune, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. Read more.

Jamming with Made in India HaikuJAM

At a time when social media is believed to be creating mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, community-driven app HaikuJAM aims to do the opposite. A social writing game, HaikuJAM connects you with strangers around the world, who ‘jam’ with you to write micro-poems, quotes, or stories together. Its ethos lies in promoting creativity, which according to research, can boost well-being, reduce stress, think clearly, and grow as people. Read more.

News & Updates

• The Rs 945 crore Startup India Seed Fund Scheme will be operational from April 1, 2021, to 2025 as the government looks to boost the ecosystem, providing the crucial capital for young companies. The scheme will be implemented by DPIIT.

• The Economic Survey was presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman, which projected a contraction of 7.7 percent and a V-shaped recovery in the next fiscal. The GDP growth is seen expanding by 11 percent in April 2021 to March 2022.

• OYO has announced new appointments and elevations across its global leadership in verticals, including technology, supply, and product. It has appointed Ankit Mathuria as the CTO, who will succeed Anil Goel.

• Swiggy has posted losses of Rs 3,920.4 crore for the year ending March 31, 2020, on the back of increased expenses, and a pandemic-induced lockdown. In the previous year, Swiggy's losses stood at Rs 2,345 crore.

• Quess Corp, a business services provider, has picked up 49 percent stake in Taskmo, a gig economy startup at a valuation of Rs 10 crore, marking the former’s entry into the digital gig economy.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

"Most people go into a shell after they're rejected. I realised long ago that I don’t want to be like that. You've to shamelessly pursue a goal and not worry about what the others are saying."

— Gaurav Munjal, Co-founder and CEO, Unacademy

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