Budget 2016: Tax breaks will increase penetration of Digital Literacy, says Bhaskar Choudhuri of Lenovo

Come February and the countdown to budget begins. With it every sector, big, medium and small, becomes busy preparing their report cards, going again and again over every minute detail with the hope that this year would bring good news. While some will be happy with their balance sheets, others will be filled with despair. And, then there are some who might put up a rosy picture out there but if you dissect it and examine, you will be filled with surprises. One such sector is the Technology sector. If the necessary is not done, this sector would face one of its greatest downfalls in the market soon. Irony is this is the age of technology.

Though India is the top most software outsourcing nation in the world, when it comes to hardware manufacturing the performance is dismal. And, since we still import spare parts, the device costs increase too. Bhaskar Choudhuri, Marketing Director (India and South Asia), Lenovo talks about the problems and the expectations of the sector from Budget 2016

Tax breaks- When we are looking at the whole Digital Literacy programme run by the government, one thinks about accessibility before anything else. Favourable tax breaks will allow the device to be far more accessible to the lower end of the population strata. Considering that India has the worst PC penetration among the BRICS nation, this step would increase PC penetration among the tier –III cities.

Manufacturing in India- A favourable budget should be there to promote manufacturing in India. A favourable budget is mainly focussed on tax benefits one gets from manufacturing.

So, do we see a large scale PC manufacturing happening in India anytime soon with a good budget?

“Favourable budget would incur a lot of inducement for us to manufacture, for sure. 2016 would be a year of PC revival to an extent,” he added.

Hardware Manufacturing- Startups will play a major role for the growth of hardware manufacturing in India.

“We are an assembling nation, not a manufacturing nation. We shouldn’t be positioning us as a cheap labour nation.”

The main question which the government should focus on is ‘How much are you investing in local innovation because otherwise you are inducing a local firm to set up in India?’

India has the brains. One just needs to promote the local talent for the right growth of this sector. Proper fund allocation for hardware manufacturing start-ups will make the ball roll.

Budget for R&D- This is the most underserved demand in every budget so far. And, brain drain from the country is the result.

It is high time the government stops ignoring the factors that would become the focal points of its growth in the future. Will Modi government’s first budget be a game changer for this industry?

(Image credits: indiatimes)