Budget 2024: a blueprint for sustainable growth and employment

I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister for laying out a clear roadmap for Viksit Bharat 2047, while remaining focused on the immediate needs.

While each of the nine tracks highlighted in the Budget has many areas to appreciate, the focus on employment generation will be a major boost and provide the impetus for the growth of the economy. The support to the manufacturing sector, an employment generation package and the training and upskilling of 4.1 crore youth across sectors are some of the major highlights of this Budget. This, coupled with the allocation of ₹1.48 lakh crore for education, employment and training, underscores the government’s commitment to harness India’s demographic dividend.

Logistics as a sector is a major employment generator and will therefore benefit from the employment incentives. This, combined with the budget’s focus on skills, will further support the growth of this sector and help improve employment.

The upgrading of 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes, with a focus on tailoring course content to the needs of the industry, is a welcome step. This initiative will bridge the skills gap in the manufacturing sector, while the introduction of new courses for emerging needs will prepare our workforce for the industries of tomorrow.

This budget has specifically addressed the challenges of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, not only in the short term but also in the long term. The continued support for a credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs in the manufacturing sector, which provides substantial financing without collateral, will help the sector. This will significantly facilitate access to term loans for the purchase of machinery and equipment, thereby promoting modernization and expansion. This, coupled with the support to MSMEs during their stress period, will help MSMEs in the short term.

However, the focus on developing a different methodology to assess SMEs on their credit requirements, including the use of private sector data, is an even more important step. The focus on leveraging data, not only from publicly available information but also from other private sources, will help in providing access to finance through formal financing channels and also provide capital for growth.

The focus on the future of MSME energy transition through energy audits and financial support to help MSME clusters switch to cleaner energy sources is a positive step. I believe that in the future more clusters will be added besides glass and ceramics.

This Budget continues to focus on delivering the building blocks and a comprehensive approach to enable India to become ‘Viksit’. The preparation for the next generation reforms, the focus on productivity, coupled with the actions on employment and skill development will help India sustain its growth path. This will also address the issues of cost of doing business. The growth of SMEs will provide a strong base to improve this further. The requirements for energy transition being identified and preparing the financing for this will help India on its sustainability journey.

Prudent management of the fiscal deficit will not only provide scope to address the challenges of the global economy but also give investors comfort to plan for the future and invest with confidence. Budget 2024 sets the agenda for the year ahead while providing the vision for how India can continue to accelerate its growth path.

R. Dinesh is the Chairman of TVS Supply Chain Solutions Limited.