“It is exciting to see that the Union Budget 2023 recommends a greater emphasis on
artificial intelligence research, as well as employability, e-skilling, and job creation in the
startup sector. With India currently having the third largest ecosystem for start-ups in the
world and ranking second in innovation quality among middle-income nations, it is
encouraging to see the implementation of innovative policies and initiatives to support the
growth of startups and frontier technologies in the country.
The proposed three Centers of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence to realize the vision of
Make AI (Artificial Intelligence) in India and Make AI Work for India aimed at developing the
country’s AI ecosystem is a decisive step towards promoting AI and allied technologies in
India. Additionally, the launch of the National Data Governance Policy to enable access to
anonymized data will be instrumental in unleashing innovation and research by startups and
academia. As stated during the budget, this initial step in catalyzing the era of digital
government will also offer greater opportunity for better, more informed decision-making
while adhering to the highest data protection standards and dedication to data privacy.
Given the emphasis on research, entrepreneurship, and startups, it is certain that startups
will play an important role in job creation, providing employment, and innovations. The
Union Budget will unleash our nation and economy full potential. Furthermore,
implementing policies that aid in boosting private sector involvement in frontier technology
and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as focusing on the academic and skilling environment,
would undoubtedly attract and grow highly trained digital talent in the country.
We applaud the government planned tax holiday for start-ups; this is an excellent move
for improving the country start-up ecosystem. This growth-focused budget considers all
variables and challenges, and we congratulate Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for
presenting a budget that addresses all issues and puts India on a higher growth trajectory.”
