Finance Minister should consider providing sops to non-internet startups

Indian Union Budget 2022: Start-ups need a boost in budget. Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced 16 January as the National Startup Day. This great morale booster indicates how the government is taking cognizance of the startup ecosystem in the country.

Every year, the startup founders are all ears as to what the finance minister has to say on Budget day. This year also, as we near the day after two years of turbulence of pandemic, here’s a wish list for the startup sector.

Encourage non-internet startups

The Indian startup ecosystem has come a long way in the last few years. Given the impressive IPO carnival that we saw on D-Street with some great valuations, it is “ache din” for the ecosystem. However, the government needs to give a significant boost to non-internet startups. Non-glamorous startups which provide services in tier 2,3 cities still need a lot of support from the local governments.

Govt must consider absorbing some taxes in oil and gas sector

Humsafar is a startup in the non-traditional sector. We are directly impacted by the fluctuations in global crude oil prices. It will be a great booster shot for the startups in the fuel economy segment if the government can control the global crude oil fluctuations to some extent. It will be a great step if the government absorbs a few taxes and cost escalation to a certain extent.

Balancing taxes

The taxes for the petroleum segment have been a point of debate for a while now. It is important that the government does a balancing act to manage the taxes. The state-level taxes, the GST, and the central taxes have created a lot of pressure on startups. The deduction on the excise duty to pre-pandemic levels has been a breather. If the government can formulate policies to regulate these taxes for the startups in the fuel economy space, it will boost the ecosystem.

Sops to encourage rural women entrepreneurs

India is a country with most of the population living in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. It will be a great boost to the women fraternity to pick up the thread in the whole entrepreneurship bandwagon if the government could consider sops such as no or fewer taxes for women founders, early-stage funding programs, to name a few. Policies to encourage the ‘gramin mahila’ towards financial independence via entrepreneurship will be a great move.

The government has shown great progress in elevating the ease of doing business for the startups in the country. From single window clearance to MSME support, the policymakers have done a lot. Thanks to the ‘digital first’ focus of the government, it has given a lot of boost to the startup ecosystem.

India has a very young population that has access to the internet. There is a need to educate and empower this younger generation to innovate and build for ‘Bharat’. The more this younger generation feels included, the more innovative and path-breaking ideas will emerge propelling India to become innovation capital in the true sense.

The author is Co-Founder, Humsafar-Diesel door delivery service.