Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, on Tuesday, presented the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament. As always, the budget got hybrid reviews.

Two main sectors that are having a keen eye on the budget as they were expecting a ray of hope to come out of the repression that had caught them post covid-19 are the retail and start-ups sector.

Let’s address what this year's budget brought for these two sectors in detail.

For Start-ups

Start-ups have a lot of good news in this year's budget. Mrs. Nirmala Sitaraman said, “ Startups have emerged as drivers of growth for our economy. Over the past few years, the country has seen a manifold increase in successful start-ups.”

Govt. has extended Emergency Credit Line Guarantee worked well for MSMEs. Also, it has added Rs 50,000cr to ECLGS for benefit of hospitality related sectors and added hospitality sector in list of sectors to be benefited from ECLG Scheme for MSMEs.

Made PM Gati Shakti Plan more robust

If we talk about the road and highways networks, the 2022 budget has a lot to offer. India’s government aims to expand the national highways network by 25,000 kilometres in the upcoming fiscal as part of PM Gati Shakti plan, a platform to track infrastructure projects. This will further boost retail as well as the startup sectors.

For Retail Sector

Few important announcements were made for the Retail sector as well. Following items will become expensive: Following is a list of imported items that will become costlier like umbrellas, Imitation Jewellery, Single or multiple loudspeakers, etc. Headphones and earphones.

However, certain goods will become cheaper as the government has slashed the customs duty and they are: Frozen mussels, Frozen squids, Asafoetida, Cocoa beans, · Cut and polished diamonds, etc.

This is a major relief for the retailers and will surely show fruitful results in the coming years.

Let’s conclude with key points of Budget 2022

In today’s budget, the Government has emphasized on escalating the performance of MSMEs. The extension of tax benefits is a great move to ensure the speedy recovery of businesses – especially micro and small – in this segment. Extending the period of incorporation for eligible startups by another year will give these players some relief in terms of time to set up their operations and leverage existing tax incentives.

Moreover, the launch of the DESH e-portal is another excellent step to boost employability in the country through various skilling programs and skill development courses.

This initiative will make the country’s youth more efficient and thus become a relevant talent for startups and other emerging businesses in the MSME ecosystem.