What Could Be In Store For Young Professionals

New Delhi:

The Union Budget 2023-24 is scheduled to be presented on February 1 and like many others young professionals also look up to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for some relief on income tax and incentives on savings. The young working class is quite fond of electronic goods, gadgets, new cars and bikes. So, it’s quite evident for the youth to expect reduced tax on these products, which would bring down the cost.

Besides job security and new employment opportunities, the youth is also largely concerned about financial security, education loans and skill development.

Income tax incentives or higher exemption limits are much anticipated by young professionals. This will leave more disposable income and they can also save more. In the current scenario of a highly competitive job market, the youth are pushed towards upskilling and higher education for career growth. The youth are looking forward to lower interest rates on education loans and new initiatives under the Skill India programme from this Budget.

The government has taken several initiatives to promote indigenisation in the electronic sector. In 2021, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme was extended to IT hardware with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing of gadgets such as laptops, all-in-one personal computers, tablets, and servers. The PLI scheme was also introduced for the large-scale electronics manufacturing sector to attract investment in mobile phone and electronic components manufacturing.

These moves are likely to boost domestic manufacturing of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones. Local manufacturers may introduce cheaper electronic gadgets, providing the youth with more options to choose from.

Further strengthening the electronics sector in India, the government had rolled out the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) to facilitate the domestic manufacturing of semiconductors, an important component for most gadgets.

As this scheme is going to expire in March 2023, the electronics industry has been eyeing an extension of five years of the scheme. In addition, the industry, in the upcoming Budget, is also expecting the government to slash the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on mobile phones to 12% from the existing 18%.

The automobile industry is witnessing a growing adoption of electric vehicles. Manufacturers are introducing new eco-friendly vehicles in the market to offer new and greener options to customers. However, electric vehicles remain costlier than vehicles that run on conventional fuel. While the government has given incentives and subsidies on the purchase of EVs, the youth, in the Budget 2023-24, is looking forward to schemes and moves that will make the EV segment more affordable.