IT industry submits budget wishes to spur growth

To leverage the global competency of the information and communication technologies (ICT) and ensure a sustained growth plan, the Indian IT industry has urged the government to facilitate a favourable business ecosystem for entrepreneurs and small, medium and large enterprises.

Highlighting its recommendations for the ensuing union budget (2015-16), IT industry representative body Nasscom Wednesday favoured a joint government-industry effort for an early adoption and migration to digital economy and leveraging its strength for digital transformation.

"The SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and technology start-ups need an environment to nurture with access to funds, incentives to support operations and a simplified compliance framework," National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) president R. Chandrashekhar said in a statement.

Sharing the association's budget wish-list, the former telecom secretary said though the government had been progressive and committed to adopt technology for governance, there is an urgent need for enabling policies and speedy implementation to realise the Digital India vision.

"The government's flagship initiatives -- Digital India and Make in India -- offer huge opportunities for our IT industry though their success hinges on the sustainability and continued growth of the technology driven," Chandrashekhar said.

The industry body hoped the budget would address regulatory and tax challenges for start-ups and SMEs, difficulties in access to funds for low-asset-based firms and ambiguous software product taxation and implementation issues.

"We hope the budget will extend provisions on deduction for employment and skill development under section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act, research and development credits, include provisions like offsetting manpower training cost and deferred tax credits for start-ups," he said.

To encourage growth of e-commerce, Nasscom said taxation on digital transactions should be at par with the physical world to facilitate adoption and migration to technology-enabled platforms.

For the government's ambitious 'Make in India' programme, Nasscom said the budget should extend incentives to the industry for adoption and implementation of IT tools for efficiency enhancement, ensuring sustainability and global competitiveness.

"The prevailing conditions and prerequisites for participating in government programmes are onerous and SMEs face stiff barriers in the eligibility criteria, which need to be revisited," Chandrashekhar said.