Budget to have positive impact on job market, say Experts

As the focus on infrastructure & ease of doing business is with the govt's vision of job creation

The budget is expected to bring positive impact on the job market as the focus on infrastructure and ease of doing business is aligned with the government's vision of job creation, experts say.

The government's focus on digitisation, transparency in governance & politics, upliftment of women & youth, quality of education, rural India is evident in this budget and this is expected to boost job creation in the economy.

"While directly budget suggests employment opportunities for youth in tourism, footwear, leather and textile industry, impetus on infrastructure and ease of doing business are aligned to the government's vision of job creation especially in the manufacturing sector," TeamLease Co-Founder & EVP Rituparna Chakraborty said.

The Union Budget on Wednesday proposed to relax corporate taxation in small medium enterprises, which is also considered as the one of the largest employee-driven market from Tier-II and Tier-III metro cities and will give a boost to unorganised employment sector.

Moreover, relaxation in individual income tax (for income up to Rs 5 lakh) will boost consumer buying power and would strongly impact consumer-driven product and services industries.

According to experts, this will increase employment by at least to 5-10% which has been slow in last one-quarter.

"Investment focus on infrastructure, including roads, highways and airport, is also going to boost employment in the sector," leading executive search firm GlobalHunt Managing Director Sunil Goel said.

The focus on digital payments industry is also expected to encourage job creation.

"Formation of independent Payment Regulatory Body under the RBI and various tax benefits on payment capital infrastructure as well as transactions are highly encouraging for Payment Industry," Suvidhaa Infoserve Founder & Chief Executive Paresh Rajde said.

Moreover, the provisions announced with reference to the startup ecosystem are encouraging.

"The provision to allow MAT credit to be carried forward from 10 years to 15 years is a good move. They will also be allowed to seek tax exemption for 3 years out of 7 years instead of 5 years which gives more flexibility. The lower rate of corporate tax for turnover up to Rs 50 crore, FIPB being abolished, and easier FDI is also positive," Anand Desai, President TiE Mumbai said.

However, Joseph Devasia, Managing Director, Antal International India said, "From a job creation perspective I could not find anything of interest, while the lower income group may keep more money in their pockets. I can only sum it up in – disappointed. Job creation was supposed to be the next big need for the country."