As the Union Budget 2024 approaches, Indian startups have several key expectations that could significantly impact their growth and sustainability.
Interim Union Budget 2024 – Key Takeaways for Students
Apart from the primary expectation which may be Tax Relief, Regulatory Ease, Funding Facilities, Infrastructure, Prof. Rajeev Roy talks about few specific areas where positive steps by the Government can really impact startups in a positive way :
Anticipations and expectations from Higher Education runs high from Budget 2024
Angel tax to be done away with – Angel tax (Section 56(2) VII B of the IT Act) applies to unlisted companies in India when they raise capital by issuing shares to domestic investors at a price exceeding the company’s fair market value. The excess amount is treated as income and taxed at a rate above 30 per cent.
BUDGET 2024 : Expectations for HEIs – Experts Speak
Incentives for investment in startups – It will spur investment in this part of the economy. These incentives should not be only restricted to VCs and Angel Funds, but should be applicable to individuals as well (maybe only HNIs to start with)
Reduce GST in Gaming – GST in Gaming is at 28% and India is one of the largest gaming markets in the world. Also, there is fear that certain aspects of gaming will be deemed unlawful. That would be a killer blow.
Research – Incentives at educational institutions are such that there has been an increase in publication without a corresponding increase in lab-based research. Enable research at centrally funded labs and at universities, and promote commercialization of such research.
XLRI Jamshedpur welcomes new batch (2024-26) of 551 students
These measures above will serve to level the playing field. Startups in India are facing disadvantages vis a vis their counterparts abroad. Angel tax for example, is something which does not have a parallel in any other developed economy. Several countries across the world including USA, UK, Israel and Singapore give incentives to angel investors in the form of tax deductions and deferrals.
While the US and Israel lead the world in terms of research commercialization, the UK and China are not far behind. We have a lot of catch up to do.
About Prof. (Dr.) Rajeev Roy : A Prominent Scholar, Dean Academics at XLRI, Delhi NCR. Extremely passionate about Entrepreneurship and Startups, his work revolves around Accelerator Programs and Start Up Incubators, entrepreneurship evangelist and start-up mentorship.
He teaches PGDM – IEV (Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Venture) at XLRI Delhi NCR and has been involved with varied entrepreneurship development activities with governments, educational institutions, incubators and accelerators in several geographies across North & South America and Asia.
