Ravi Narayan, CEO of T-Hub, expects Budget 2021 to boost aspirations of Indian startups

Ravi Narayan, CEO of T-Hub, says several measures announced in the Budget 2021 are likely to boost the aspirations of Indian startups, but believes lot more needs to be done in the areas of funding startups; a snapshot of his views on Budget 2021 for startups:

• Extension of tax-holiday and capital gains exemption for investment by another year a positive
• One-person company incorporation and update to definition of small companies a major boost for new, yet unborn startups
• More needs to be done in the areas of funding startups
• More needs to be done in creating R&D centres for budding entrepreneurs in tier II and tier III cities
• More needs to be done in directing MNCs to value more of Indian innovations or create more robust innovation centres in their campuses

Here's his full reaction to Budget 2021 and its likely impact on startups:

The extension for startups on both, the eligibility for claiming tax-holiday and the capital gains exemption for investment by another year (March 2022) will make a major shift overnight in boosting the aspirations and enthusiasm of Indian entrepreneurs, especially for the ones whose businesses were affected downwards due to pandemic.

They will rethink before shutting off their operations, or might would want to restart any recently closed enterprise as they will see the silver-lining from the budget this year.

The talented NRIs who were asked to return to India or the ones planning to do so will also find a good reason to settle back in India and set up a tech product business.

The revised norm and the opportunity to form One-person Company with zero turnover norms and without any restrictions is now accessible even faster in 120 days than 182 days earlier.

The threshold of annual turnover for small companies being raised from Rs 2 crores to Rs 20 crores is yet another major boosting factor for the unborn, new, or existing startups. 

I thank our finance minister for these steps. 

However, a lot more needs to be done in the areas of funding startups, R&D centres for budding entrepreneurs in tier II and tier III cities too as well as directing MNCs to value more of Indian innovations or create more robust innovation centres in their campuses.

Furthermore, we have realised over the years that the translation from a budget statement to its impact on the ground takes time. We need to shorten the time while maintaining the true spirit of the budget.

The budget 2021 has been a pleasant surprise for the startup and innovation ecosystem as it announced everything best an entrepreneur could wish for.

We can easily anticipate existing ventures to grow confidently and more new ventures to come up rapidly due to some specific budget highlights.

However, the ecosystem deserved it, as India’s startup ecosystem is now the world's third-largest with close to 38 unicorns and 12 of them came up last year.

For YourStory's multimedia coverage of Budget 2021, visit YourStory's Budget 2021 page or budget.yourstory.com