Techies laud Budget's focus on AI, manufacturing

Vijayawada: Techies from various segments have lauded the efforts by the Union Government in laying emphasis on promotion of artificial intelligence and giving a boost to the manufacturing sector in the proposals made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget for 2023-24.

Krishna Moorthy K, CEO and President of Indian Electronic and Semiconductor Association (IESA) said over the last few years, the industry has seen the consistency in budget thought flows from the government and this has led to some amount of stability and increased credibility to the government's approach to industry-related policy support. The 2023 budget is no exception as India steers the G-20 in the current disposition.

"The support for the core industries remain intact, deep tech industries get the much-needed boost and electronics and semiconductor in particular is given the impetus to make it contribute about eight to 10 per cent to GDP before the end of this decade. Specifically, the budget focuses on MSMEs and it will enable India to become one of the leading manufacturers in the ESDM sector and meet the industry expectations of enhanced global exports."

He said India is indeed a benchmark in digital prowess for the world. "We at IESA are committed to India being the Digital Nation in all our endeavours," he remarked.

Vikas Jain, Co-Founder, PLAY Design Labs described the budget as very sensible and opined that the FM has been considerate to the common man and industry alike. There is massive commitment of job creation and infrastructure spending which is very well received for India. Most the industry is well taken care of and focus on strengthening manufacturing is evident. "We hope to see some focus and action on the "cost of capital" in future budgets and themes.