New Delhi/Gurugram, 30 Jan 2020: The Union Budget 2020 is going to be key from the perspective of the ongoing economic slowdown, lesser consumer spending as well as decline in GDP growth. It will be interesting to see how the Government tackles the challenges confronting the economy. From the perspective of ICT industry, the forthcoming Union Budget is crucial in ensuring India’s economy rebounds, or else, concerns abound on whether the current economic situation becomes even worse.

As per a new CMR ‘Pre-Budget 2020 ICT Tech Industry Sentiment Survey’, ICT industry anticipates a recovery from the ensuing economic slowdown in the year ahead, with growth stimulus (55%). Interestingly, 1 in 3 of those surveyed do not see a recovery in the near horizon.

The Pre-Budget 2020 Tech Industry Sentiment Survey is a comprehensive survey of 240 senior industry executives from the ICT industry, powered by CMR’s Insight On the Go platform.

“Current weak economic environment means that traditional sources of revenue, tax collections have not kept pace with budget estimates. The forthcoming Union Budget should focus towards raising investment and consumption levels, and in generating employment. This could largely be through the infrastructure development route entailing higher capital expenditure. If we can assign higher allocations towards capital (infrastructure) spending and the employment opportunities generated out of it will lead to higher consumption,” said Thomas George, President – CMR.

From the perspective of ICT industry, the Union Budget remains critical for turning around the India story and get the growth stimulus back. An overwhelming majority highlighted that the budget focus should be on enhanced spend on infrastructure and jobs creation.