From empowering startups to driving sustainable real estate and boosting hospitality, industry leaders urge the government to adopt bold measures in Budget 2025-26.
Empowering Startups: A $10 Billion Opportunity for Innovation: India’s startup ecosystem, ranked as the world’s third-largest with over 1,40,803 startups as of 2024, is poised for exponential growth. However, challenges such as regulatory inefficiencies and funding hurdles persist.
Single-Window Clearance and Regulatory Stability: Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner at Artha Venture Fund, emphasizes the need for a single-window clearance system for fund registrations. He states, Introducing stability in the regulatory framework will encourage more domestic and foreign capital inflow, making fund management more efficient.
Strengthening SIDBI’s Role: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has catalyzed startup growth through its Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS). However, Damani suggests enhancing SIDBI’s allocation by an additional ₹10,000 crores, complemented by a sovereign-backed $10 billion anchor fund. This would attract contributions from global sovereign wealth funds and create a pool of patient capital for startups.
Real Estate: Building a Sustainable and Inclusive Future: The real estate sector, contributing over 6% of India’s GDP, seeks reforms to drive growth, affordability, and sustainability.
Enhanced Housing Affordability – Budget 2025 : Prashant Sharma, President of NAREDCO, advocates increasing tax exemptions under Section 24(b) to ₹5 lakh. He highlights, This step will boost homeownership and encourage mid-income buyers, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Shraddha Kedia-Agarwal, Director of Transcon Developers, adds, GST rationalization and incentives for rental housing could attract institutional investments and benefit urban renters.
Green Building Practices: Sustainability remains a top priority. Leaders like Kuldeep Jain from Build Capital propose tax rebates for eco-friendly building technologies, aligning with India’s Net Zero Emissions commitment.
Streamlining Approvals: Many developers, including Samyak Jain from Siddha Group, stress the need for a single-window clearance system. This would minimize project delays and reduce costs, enabling faster deliveries.
Hospitality: Unlocking Tourism’s Full Potential
Infrastructure Status for Smaller Projects: The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) urges the government to lower the infrastructure status threshold for hotel projects from ₹200 crore to ₹10 crore. This would unlock funding for smaller projects in emerging tourism hubs. K. Syama Raju, President of FHRAI, explains, “The one-million population requirement excludes the vast majority of India’s cities, preventing tourism development in heritage and pilgrimage destinations.”
Simplifying Licensing and Liquor Policies – Budget 2025: FHRAI calls for a simplified liquor licensing system, similar to the FSSAI model, to reduce compliance burdens.
Additional Insights Across Industries – Budget 2025
MedRabbits Healthcare: Amol Deshmukh, CEO of MedRabbits Healthcare, highlights the need to address India’s aging population through affordable home healthcare solutions. “The home healthcare market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17.36%, reflecting the demand for patient-centric care.”
Education and Skill Development: Rohan Rai, Co-Founder of Edupull, emphasizes bridging the gap for students in rural areas. Simplified access to learning tools and AI-enabled personalized education can transform India’s 58,000+ institutions into innovation hubs.
Technology and Cybersecurity: Srinivas Shekar, CEO of Pantherun Technologies, discusses safeguarding startups from cyber threats. India’s $151 billion startup ecosystem thrives on trust. By offering robust cybersecurity solutions, we empower startups to focus on innovation without fear.
Conclusion: A Vision for Inclusive Growth: Budget 2025: As India prepares for Budget 2025-26, the combined voices of industry leaders highlight the need for progressive policies across startups, real estate, and hospitality. Simplified frameworks, sustainability incentives, and inclusive growth strategies are critical to unlocking India’s potential as a $5 trillion economy.
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