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As the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is all set to present the Indian Budget for 2023-24, we reached out to Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO, of Tide India to understand what the NBFC sector is expecting from the upcoming budget.
Speaking about the expectations with the Union Budget 2023, Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO of Tide India said, “The MSME sector has potentially turned out to be a key catalyst for the Indian economy in recent years, considering India is home to over 63 million MSMEs contributing close to 30% of the country’s GDP. Reiterating such a significant figure, it has become imperative for the government and the Fintech syndicates to work in alignment with each other. This will make the sector more robust, resilient, and profitable.”
“The government should introduce a much-needed policy framework mandating large corporates to include the MSME segment in their business models in some or the other way. By procuring a certain percentage of the priority sector’s business or aiding them with current technological innovations and marketing tactics to bolster their business growth,” Gurjodhpal Singh said.
Continuing with expectations, he said, “The slowdown we saw in the economy last year has caused significant pain to MSMEs due to high-interest rates in the lending landscape inhibiting their operational capabilities. Soft loans at minimal interest rates or any reduction in SME lending rates will provide an impetus for the industry’s steady growth. On the other hand, rising interest rates would pose a risk to the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) portfolio of lenders.”
Further adding to this, Gurjodhpal Singh said, “While keeping in mind that the whole world is undergoing massive digital transformation, India’s significant chunk of the MSME population that resides in tier 2, 3, and 4 cities lacks digital awareness and inclusion to a high extent. The government must introduce certain initiatives with a focus on training and coaching the sector on the technological advancement and marketing front to spur digitization across the country.”