The Corporate Relations & Placement Department and the Department of Management Studies at CMS Business School organised a panel discussion on the Indian Budget for the financial year 2023-24 on 08 February 2023. The discussion with industry experts focused on some of the major issues of the Indian budget presented by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.

Dr. Premalatha K P welcomed the panel and gave a brief overview of the budget before opening up the discussion. The panel, made up of industry experts, including Mr. Subasis Bandyopadhyay, Vice President of Global BFSI Domain Head at Happiest Minds Technologies, Mr. Jayant Tewari, Promoter, CEO, and Financial Technologist at Outsourced CFO, Mr. Subrat Kumar Sahu, Director Engineering at Global Logic and Mr. Amarpal Singh Chadha, Partner at Ernst & Young, touched on a variety of topics related to the budget.

The discussion started with the industry specific views on the budget by all the panel members, followed by questions. Mr. Subasis Bandyopadhyay set the tone for the discourse by discussing points pertaining to sustainable growth, technology adoption and usage, stock market growth in comparison with other economies in the world, need for skilling, reskilling and upskilling of talents. He also mentioned about the importance given for infrastructural and industrial development by the current budget.

Mr. Subrat Kumar Sahu pointed out the reason the Indian economy has to shift from savings to spending. He also took the opportunity to throw light on the 7 priorities (Saptharishi) of Inclusive Development; Reaching the Last Mile; Infrastructure and Investment; Unleashing the Potential; Green Growth; Youth Power; and Financial Sector. He explained that Saptharishi was the main agenda for the current budget since they will guide the country through the Amrit Kaal, the 25-year journey towards its centenary as a modern nation.

Mr. Jayanth Tiwari, who worked with MSME sector for more than a decade, highlighted how this budget has supported the MSME sector at the grass root level in respect to on-time payment of bills, manufacturing support and brand management. He stressed on the concepts of skill development and explained how India can face global slowdown, recession or any other future uncertainty.

Mr. Amarpal Singh Chaddha presented his views about how India can manage its fiscal deficit even after having increased capital expenditure and interest on loans. He highlighted that with the proper upskilling of employees and efficient implementation of all the policies, the unemployment rate can be reduced and we can a see sustainable growth in the economy.

The discussion was ended with a vote of thanks by Prof. Rajiv Kalebar, who summarised the entire discussion and conveyed his best regards to all the panel members and audience.