Skill Training, Economic Empowerment: Here’s What Young Women Entrepreneurs Expect From Budget 2024

Budget 2024: Some of the women entrepreneurs Budget 2024 should prioritize skill training, especially for young women in Bharat, offering vocational programs after class 12.

Budget 2024: Ahead of the Budget 2024 presentation on February 1, several young women entrepreneurs in the country expect the Centre to prioritize skill training, especially for young women in Bharat, offering vocational programs after class 12. Some other women CEOs said the move from Centre should meet its promise to encourage the evolution of Lakhpati Mahilas” from Women’s Self Help Groups.

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Speaking to India.com, Saloni Verma, Co-Founder and chairperson, Sunshine Corporate Creches, said the maternity Act 2017 made it mandatory for company with 50+ employees to provide creche services to their employees, 6 months of paid maternity leave also became the law at the same time. While intentions in both clauses are good, it would help if the Centre comes up with some financial incentives for companies of smaller size to help them pay salaries of those on maternity leave and then set up creches for them.

Increase Allocation For Education Sector

She added that the anticipation for the Union Budget 2024 includes hopes for increased allocation to education, prioritizing technology integration, and enhancing infrastructure.

“Stakeholders expect measures to address skill development, promote research, and reduce the digital divide. Transparent policies and sustainable funding are key expectations,” she said.

Focus On Sustained Investment

Zaiba Sarang, Co-founder of iThink Logistics, said as India’s logistics sector gears up for another year of growth, the 2024 budget stands as a pivotal opportunity to bolster its potential. We expect several key steps aimed at driving the sector’s advancement. A greater focus on sustained investment in multi-modal infrastructure development is expected, with emphasis on dedicated freight corridors, inland waterways, and intelligent logistics parks to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.” She said.

She also expects the upcoming budget to incentivize green initiatives, such as electric vehicles, green warehousing, and renewable energy adoption, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint and attract sustainable investments.

Skill Training For Young Women

Jyoti Bhandari, Founder and CEO, Lovak Capital, said the previous year’s budget highlighted the importance of women’s economic empowerment, recognizing their significant role in fostering a dynamic economy.

She added that Budget 2024 should prioritize skill training, especially for young women in Bharat, offering vocational programs after class 12. Further it should meet its promise to encourage the evolution of Lakhpati Mahilas” from Women’s Self Help Groups. This shift would not only catalyze rural economic growth but also secure substantial growth in SHG networks,” she said.

Tax Rebates, GST Reductions

Richa Singh, CEO and Co-Founder at Happinetz, said, One of our earliest product commitments was to ensure that Happinetz Box would be a Make in India product. While the government has continuously pushed for more reforms to encourage manufacturing at home, my expectations from the current budget would be increased financial relief, such as tax rebates or GST reductions, for both manufacturers and companies championing the ‘Make in India’ initiative.”

She said these incentives would serve as a pivotal catalyst, prompting businesses to align their long-term strategies more aggressively with the ‘Make in India’ framework. By providing enhanced tangible support, the budget has the potential to fuel a substantial uptick in domestic manufacturing, contributing to the overall resilience and self-sufficiency of the Indian economy.

Dhanashree Mandhani, Founder & CEO at Salam Kisan, said, Directly incentivizing the adoption of technology in farming through subsidies and policy frameworks is equally important. Data mining & collection of data needs to happen as a government initiative and budgets must be allotted to do the same. We have ourselves adopted and seen the transformational role of drones in doing so.”

She stated that formalizing women’s labor/ farming in the agriculture sector must be on the government’s agenda in this budget, as we cannot deny the fact/ participation of women in the upbringing of families.