Budget 2021: Before the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget in the Parliament on February 1, 2021.
Here’s what the Shipping & Logistics sector expects from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman:
Saurabh Jaitly, Co-Founder, Shippigo:
“After being hit by COVID19, the logistics industry started getting back on track after initial hiccups. As the logistics industry is getting digitalized, we are looking forward to digitalized taxation and documentation through a single-window which will not be time-consuming for startups. As any start-up is resource-constrained and a good amount of time is spent on tax calculation and statutory compliances. A special fund should be set up by the government to provide easier access to capital for startups.”
Alok Sharma, CEO & Co-founder, NebulARC:
“In 2020, logistics proved to be a crucial sector for keeping the economy up & running. As India gears up for COVID-19 vaccine distribution this year, the logistics sector needs to gear up big time to ensure a smooth supply chain. With the union budget set to be announced, we expect the government to invest in the digitization of supply chain management with a focus on new technologies like AI, Machine learning, and IoT. These technologies will eventually decrease the pressure on pharma companies in effectively managing logistics.
The government should also consider lowering ocean freight rates that are driven by the demand-supply scenario. This will also reduce the shortage of containers that occurred due to port congestion and delays last year. Besides this, we also expect the government to take a proactive step in funding large port construction for container trade to fuel the sector’s growth.”
Abhik Mitra, MD & CEO, Spoton Logistics:
“As India Inc. sets sights on the Budget 2021-2022, I would like to draw the attention of the honorable finance minister towards a few key pain points of the logistics industry that must be addressed in this year’s budget. With logistics holding the economy together even during the COVID-19 pandemic and set to play an even more crucial role in current times, the government must look at providing the much-required financial and infrastructural support to the sector. With India’s aim to reduce the logistics cost from the current 14 percent of GDP to less than 10 percent, the government must bring about a groundbreaking transformation in the logistics sector that encapsulates an increased use of digital technologies and automation.
We urge the government to take dedicated measures to boost digitalization to drive transparency and bring in the required predictability in logistics. Another key step that the government must take is to bring Fuel under the purview of GST as this could fundamentally transform the Indian logistics sector.
While goods are moved from one place to another, it is generally required for the transporter to carry a hard copy of the invoice, the government must also do away with this by way of e-way bill digitalization. On the demand side, the government can look at driving the overall consumption which could be achieved by reducing personal income tax and GST on various goods, etc.”
Vishal Yadav, CEO, FDI India:
“We are optimistic that the upcoming budget will have policies and recommendations that will further strengthen the FDI ecosystem. The steps taken by the government in this direction are commendable, like enhanced FDI participation in more areas and higher participation in existing sectors. Because India received the highest ever FDI in 2020, we hope that this year’s Government will further look on to strengthening the ease of doing business as it is a basic prerequisite for making investments.
The upcoming budget also needs to be favorably allocated to various sectors such as manufacturing, electronics, automobiles, etc to boost foreign investments. There is room for demand-side measures in the budget as actions so far have been supply-centric. Therefore, we are hopefully looking forward to better times in 2021.”