Expert’s reaction on Budget 2024 – MSME and Women Empowerment

Quotes:

Raghunandan Saraf, Founder & CEO of Saraf Furniture

This can therefore be considered as a game-changing initiative for workforce development in India: the announcement of a pan-India internship scheme for 1 crore youth in the top 500 companies. Nearly 12 million people enter into the job market every year, so this scheme may claim a fair share of new job seekers. The span of 12 months gives ample exposure and makes up for the gap between education and what actually is expected by industry standards. The demographic dividend of India will be the very foundation on which this initiative should ride, due to its 65% population below the age of 35. Involving top companies would ensure quality training through follow-up employment. It will also help negate the very basis of one of the most cited reasons for skill mismatch, as 63% of Indian firms face difficulty in filling job vacancies due to skill gaps. This would greatly increase employability, hence significantly reducing the youth unemployment rate of 23.2%, raising general productivity in the economy.

Delphin Varghese – Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, AdCounty Media

The seriousness of the government in facilitating credit access to aggrieved MSMEs stands as a critical factor for survival and growth of the sector. While MSMEs are the backbone of the economy—contributing 30 per cent to GDP and 48 per cent to exports—it faces an estimated credit gap of ₹20-25 trillion by IFC estimates. There could be a gap bridged with the proposed multiple mechanisms; for example, credit growth to MSMEs was 11% year over year in FY2021. Better access to credit would have implications for massive job creation and economic stability if taken from over 110 million working in the MSME sector. This is opportune; 67% of MSMEs surveyed said that the pandemic hit them adversely. By ensuring credit flow, it would revive a sector that is important for achieving India’s goal of a $5 trillion economy.

Atif Shamsi, CEO & Founder at OuchCart

It is an integral part of ease of doing business reforms, and subnational deregulation aimed at reducing the compliance burden of MSMEs. As of now, compliances run to over 750 annually for MSMEs, with an estimated ₹12 lakh crore cost incurred for the same. The maze of these regulations has reportedly retarded their growth—it is stated that about 64% of MSMEs reported compliance as a huge challenge. Streamlined, these two processes can help save billions in compliance costs and hundreds of work hours annually. This is also in step with India’s vision to break into the top 50 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings from its current position of 63rd. Coupled with simplification of regulations at the state level, it has the potential to unlock the actual potential of the MSME sector accounting for 95 percent of India’s industrial units. Coupled with access to credit, this could be transformative for the 63.4 million MSMEs in India.

Ridhima Kansal, director of Rosemoore

It is of significant interest that the Economic Survey puts a focus on striking a fine balance between concerns over trade and security with China for MSME growth. Indeed, the Chinese share in India’s imports is about 30%, a large share of which comprises intermediate goods that are vital for MSMEs. Recent tensions along the border led to restrictions that affected 19% of India’s imports from China. This is what most affected the MSME sector, with 45% of them reporting some form of supply chain disruption. This call for balance underlines a complex interdependence, wherein the 70% of active Pharma Ingredients come from China and 80% of cells utilized in the solar sector are also manufactured there. The government is balancing this call for shielding MSMEs from dumping or unfair competition against access to vital inputs. This is a sensitive balancing act for 6.3 crore MSMEs in India, as it affects their competitiveness and survival not only in the domestic market but also in international markets.

Women Empowerment :

Quotes:

Nidhi Aggarwal, Founder of SpaceMantra

More than ₹3 lakh crore has been allocated for schemes directly benefitting women and girls, reiterating the government’s commitment to women empowerment. It is an excellent investment from India’s perspective as its female labor force participation rate in 2021 stood at a low of 23.3 percent against the global average of 46.9 percent. The government wishes to tap into substantial economic potential by focusing on women’s workforce participation. A 2018 McKinsey report had pegged equal participation of women in the workforce as adding $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025. The focus on women-specific skilling programs has addressed a critical gap, for only 2% of Indian women get formal job training against 8% of men. This can potentially uplift millions of women across the country, as currently, 65% of working-age women in India stay out of the labor force.

Gunjan Goel, Director at Goel Ganga Developments

The decision to establish hostels for women as part of the ₹3 lakh crore package is a very significant initiative to overcome one of the sticky factors in the participation of workforce women. Currently, only about 27% of Indian women have access to a safe and affordable place to stay close to workplaces. Many are thus forced to take painful decisions between career opportunities and personal safety for lack of accommodation. Government supplying of hostels, therefore, can potentially unleash job opportunities for millions of women, particularly in urban areas where this shortage is pretty acute. It also resonates with the requirement for supporting the 81% of Indian women who migrate for work-related purposes. More importantly, it will make a real difference to 195 million women engaged in unpaid domestic work, many of whom might enter the workforce with adequate housing support.

Ridhima Kansal, director of Rosemoore

Allocation of ₹3 lakh crore exclusively for the creation of women-centric skilling programs is a target-oriented initiative to fill up India’s gender skills gap. Presently, the number of women is only 30 percent in India’s formally skilled workforce. As per records, the number of women participation in vocational training is quite meager compared to that of men. Hence, tailoring the skilling programs specifically to the needs of women, the government wants to cover up the 55 percent skills training gap between men and women in India. It will especially help the 23 million women who ended up leaving the workforce between the periods 2011-12 and 2018-19. With estimates of some women-centric skilling programs, which places job candidates at an increased rate of up to 60%, this investment would have major significance in the case of female employment. Along with that, with a projection of 283 million skilled workers needed by 2050, it will also ensure that women are suitably prepared with the necessary skills to be able to meet future labor market demand.

Mamta Shekhawat, Founder of Gradding

The allocation of ₹3 lakh crore for women-centric schemes is thus an astute investment in India’s economic future. A McKinsey study finds out that economically empowering women could add $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025. That would correct the anomaly in India’s workforce today, where the contribution of women to GDP is as low as 17%, a considerable departure from the global average of 37%. The Government has been trying to make hostels and skilling initiatives to tap into this grossly underutilized potential of 655 million Indian women, which in turn might have a multiplier effect on social development since studies show that women reinvest 90% of their income back into their families and communities as opposed to 35% for men. At the very best, this can turn out to be a catalyzing budget that sets in motion a sea change in the socio-economic landscape of India.