“If executed well, this Budget can position India not just as a manufacturing alternative, but as a globally competitive, resilient and policy-stable economy ready to navigate the next phase of global trade realignment.” Dibyanshu Tripathi, CEO & Co-Founder of Hexalog
The present Budget has the onerous responsibility to reinforce India’s competitiveness in global markets amidst rising geopolitical uncertainties and changing global trade alignments. A clear focus on export-oriented growth would be crucial not only to tap new opportunities but also to insulate the domestic industry from external volatility. Simplification and rationalization of duty structures have a key role in allowing Indian producers to work with greater efficiency and predictability in costs.
The inverted duty structure is one of the challenges that remain; in the case of raw materials, duties imposed are substantially higher as compared to finished goods imports in cases such as chemicals and engineering. This does not encourage domestic value addition and weakens the manufacturing competitiveness of India. Removing anomalies of this kind will help Indian producers fit into the global supply chain more efficiently, while reducing unnecessary import dependence at the same time.
At the same time, as the strategic objective necessarily needs to aim at building self-reliance, the latter would also involve that the policy frameworks remain pragmatic and growth-oriented. Balancing between supporting domestic capability while not disrupting critical input availabilities would be called for.
The larger, overarching need, however, is for a more simplified, transparent and digitally enabled trade and tax structure. Streamlined compliance, uniform interpretations, and end-to-end digitization can significantly reduce friction for businesses, improve ease of doing business, and enhance investor confidence.
If executed well, this Budget can position India not just as a manufacturing alternative, but as a globally competitive, resilient and policy-stable economy ready to navigate the next phase of global trade realignment.
The author is Dibyanshu Tripathi, CEO & Co-Founder of Hexalog
