Budget Reaction by Neeraj Dotel, Managing Director, India SAP Concur Technologies

Commenting on the budget, Neeraj Dotel, Managing Director, India and SAARC, SAP Concur Technologies said, “This is perhaps the most-awaited budget in the recent history with the country gearing up for the FM’s first budget post demonetization and GST – two of the biggest reforms of the Government of India. The budget FY 18- 19 did not have many surprises, but must say some of the initiatives are quite welcoming. The government is quite bullish on Digital India & Green India Mission. We see an increased focus on compliance and reduced time for filing tax and dependency on paper receipts, which will help propel the business processes. We also laud the initiatives towards the national programmes focusing on R&D and innovation and the increased focus on AI, ML and data sciences
Ease of doing business with a focus on MSMEs and increased rural lending capacities by the Banks and Institutes are clearly high on this year’s agenda. The MSME sector getting Rs 3,794 crore in the form of capital support and interest subsidy is a welcome change. This would give a much-needed push to the sector. Easing the corporate tax procedures for companies, will help bring down the burden of businesses and boost their revenues. For the direct tax-payers, introducing similar scheme for professionals with a greater focus on compliance to streamline the tax structure, will further boost paperless and e-transaction in the country and in turn reduce the carbon footprint.”