The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, started her Pre-Budget Consultations with different stakeholder Groups in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21 here today. Her first meeting was with the stakeholder Groups from Digital Economy, Fintech and Start-ups .

The main areas of discussion during the aforesaid meeting included Data Issues such as use of Big Data technology, phenomena by analysing large data sets, Use of Big Data Technology for SME Sector and unleashing the power of Big Data for Public Governance. Other issues which dominated the discussion included Digital Infrastructure & Role of Government, Regulation of Digital Economy especially in privacy, Financial Regulation , Ease of doing Business environment for start-ups , infrastructure gaps for digital India , Taxation issues among others.

Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Finance Secretary, Shri Rajeev Kumar, Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Economic Affairs ,  Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information technology, Shri Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT, Shri P.K Das, Chairman, CBIC, Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.

The representatives of Digital Economy, Fintech and Start-ups shared their views and suggestions regarding Big Data, incentives for encouraging setting up of data centres, fiscal incentives for data localisation, incentives for pushing digital penetration in rural areas, corporate guarantee to start-ups for competing with other nations, rationalisation of MAT tax rate, tax exemption for start-up units, creation of specific agency for looking after cross border financial crimes,  increasing women employment (gender dividend in skill development), training youth in skill development along with international internships and incentivising Research & Development (R&D) within India. While the experts suggested improvements in their respective fields, they also gave a variety of solutions to the sector specific problems. Many speakers suggested giving tax sops to Start-Ups and nurture them in the country.

The participants included Shri Deepak Acharya, Global Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Wipro Ltd., Shri. Mandeep Singh Puri, Chairman, Electronic and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, Ms Vishakha Saigal Jio Mobiles, Shri Dheeraj P. Sharma. Director, IIM Rohtak, Shri George Paul CEO, MAIT, Shri Ashish Aggarwal, Head of Public Policy, Nasscom, Shri Suneel Maggo, President, Chamber of Start-ups, Industries and Entrepreneur (India) Council, Shri Raj Nehru, Vice Chancellor, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Shri Anand Nandkumar, Indian School of Business, Shri Amrit Manwani, President, ELCIN,  Shri Peyush Bansal, Founder, Lenskart, Shri Amit Bansal, Head of Tax, Uber India and South Asia, Shri H. Nagaraj, Financial Controller, Velankani Electronics (P) Ltd., Shri Virat Bhatia, Managing Director, Strategy & Policy, Apple India,  Shri N.K. Goyal, President, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India, Shri Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, Indian Cellular & Electronics Association. Ms. Deepa Mani, Professor, Indian School of Business, Shri Hari Om Rai, Chairman & Managing Director, Lava International Ltd and Shri Madhur Deora , Paytm.

Digital economy regulation and tax incentives proposed to promote data infrastructure, startup growth and research and development. Pre-Budget consultations urged incentives for setting up data centres, fiscal support for data localisation, use of big data technologies for SMEs and public governance, and stronger privacy and digital economy regulation. Tax proposals included rationalisation of the minimum alternate tax, tax exemptions and sops for start-ups, incentives for research and development, and measures to boost women's employment and youth skill development. Stakeholders also recommended a dedicated agency to address cross border financial crimes and frameworks to improve start up competitiveness.