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The Union Budget 2023-24 | Restaurateur Reaction to FM Sitharaman’s announcements
Here are inputs and reactions by the restaurateur on the Budget Allocations made by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Prerna and Sangram, Founders, Zyzzyva - All Day Dining, “With the Union Budget focusing on job creation in
Here are inputs and reactions by the restaurateur on the Budget Allocations made by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Prerna and Sangram, Founders, Zyzzyva – All Day Dining,
“With the Union Budget focusing on job creation in the tourism industry, we are grateful for the government’s efforts. We hope that more young people will be encouraged to explore the opportunities available in the industry, which has seen positive growth in recent years. As fledgling restaurateurs, we understand the challenges of venturing into new territory and are eager to support and encourage any young individuals looking to join us in this exciting field.”
Teja Chekuri, Managing Partner at Ironhill India
We were hoping that in this budget, some critical issues such as the introduction of ITC (input tax credit), liquidity focused credit lines and single window clearance for all restaurant licenses will be looked into. It would have helped if the government would, have addressed the issue of unemployment in the hospitality sector and introduced healthy regulations in place to improve the ease of doing business and helped to generate employment in the sector.
Vandita Purohit, Founder, Mauji Cafe
It’s great that this budget has a contingency plan for the hospitality sector which was much needed. But, there is still a lack of awareness amongst hospitality startups with respect to how to access this for the larger benefit of the hospitality ecosystem and our economy. We appreciate this step taken by the govt of refunding 95% if the MEME startup fails, but this can also have a lot of unforeseen drawbacks for the last mile startups.
Also, MSME is a very vast category to build the budget around. So, I believe it should be bifurcated according to industries so that not only one but all industries benefit from the govt offering.
Tarak Bhattacharya, Executive Director and CEO at Mad Over Donuts
There were no significant direct takeaways from the union budget 2023 related to the F&B or the QSR industry. Still, there are some interesting aspects which will help our business. Government will select 50 destinations, to promote tourism on mission mode. The Finance Minister said that with an integrated and innovative approach, at least 50 destinations will be selected through challenge mode. This will increase the movement of people towards these locations thereby giving a chance to increase travel and hospitality businesses that will help us too. This is positive news for the F&B industry as more tourism indicates higher footfalls. Regional air connectivity will be improved in the country allowing more flights, helicopters, and water aerodromes to operate. This again increases tourism and can benefit the F&B as well as the QSR industry. The government has also reduced the income tax rate and raised the income tax limit to 7LPA, allowing people more disposal income to spend more on food and leisure. Again a positive sign for the F&B industry.
Debaditya Chaudhury, Managing Director of Chowman, Oudh 1590 & Chapter 2
I think it’s a little disheartening for the food and beverage industry, that there was no mention of any relief or support for us in the Union Budget 2023-24 declaration.
This year, we were hoping for extended moratoriums on interest payable and reduced tax structure to help us regain our balance sheet’s health. Sadly, the government has ignored us even though the industry has been resilient and has recovered from the pandemic on its own. While other sectors are laying people off, the F&B industry has been generating jobs, adding to the GST credit without even any input credit.
Sneh Jain, Co-founder & Managing Director, The Baker’s Dozen
The Union Budget 2023 focused on some of our country’s progressive pillars, such as youth empowerment, women empowerment, scaling up national rural development, and strengthening the health and education sectors. In the last nine years, the Indian economy has grown from the 10th to the 5th largest, and we believe the startup ecosystem has played a significant role in this. Another excellent move was the announcement of raising the exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh, which will substantially increase individual savings and lead to a higher standard of living.
Also, one of the considerable highlights was the national apprenticeship scheme, which aims to assist 47 lakh youths over the next three years, demonstrating the government’s commitment to a well-developed workforce. Our economy grew by 7% as a result of last year’s announcement to support the startup culture. The past few years have seen tremendous growth in start-up businesses across various sectors, which contributes to a sizable share of our economic development and has made our country proud on multiple levels. We hope to inspire more entrepreneurs and startup brands who want to make a difference.
Abhinav Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO Kaldi Craft Coffee Pvt. Ltd.
“As a startup we have witnessed our country’s startup ecosystem reach international acclaim giving us a lot of hope. It will be important for the government to rationalize and revise taxes thereby helping us meet our daily capital needs to maintain optimum growth desired. The upcoming budget should focus on initiatives on skill development like entrepreneur education curriculums which help upcoming entrepreneurs like us and many more to develop”
Dhruv Jhaveri, Partner, Trapeze
“Great budget ! Lot of positives for the common man. The huge income tax relief will put more money in people’s hands which in turn will help the domestic economy. The big infrastructure push will create jobs. All this will give the happy population more reasons to party!”
