Budget 2019: Reactions from Mobile Industry & Experts

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that the monthly consumption of mobile data has increased by over 50 times in the last five years.

While presenting the Union Budget 2019, he said, "The cost of data and voice calls in India is now possibly the lowest in the world."

The Finance Minister said mobile tariff in India is now possibly the lowest in the world, catapulting India as the world leader in the consumption of mobile data.

Goyal said the 'Make in India' programme has seen India emerging as the new destination for the mobile phone manufacturing industry. "Today, under Make in India, mobile and parts manufacturing companies have increased from 2 to more than 268 providing huge job opportunities," he added.

Now let's have a look at how some of the top smartphone makers responded to the new budget:

Rajesh Agarwal, Co-Founder, Micromax, said that "Announcements around expanding Common Service Centres and creating digital infrastructure in the villages will be a significant step in the Digital India mission and growth of the Make in India initiative. With India leading the consumption of voice calls and mobile data usage, it is fascinating to note our constant progression towards becoming a global hub for manufacturing."

Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India; Co-chair, Electronics Committee, FICCI said, " In the final budget we expect an exemption of basic customs duty on open cells (from 5 percent to 0 percent) to give the necessary thrust to the market, uplifting the overall sentiments thereby, resulting in an increased demand for Televisions (TVs).

"Further, it will help pave way for a larger roadmap for the component-manufacturing ecosystem to be achieved through a phased manufacturing programme (PMP) for TVs, which in turn will help reinforce GoI's larger, Make-in-India vision. TVs today, have moved from being an item of luxury to one of our necessities, hence, its affordability is a key. Therefore, in order to drive further penetration whilst progressing towards a manufacturing based economy, we urge GoI to lower the GST slabs for TVs (above 26 inches) and other energy efficient appliances," Sharma said.

Carl Ngo Co-founder and CEO of Mobiistar, India, and Global said, "Announcement around national scheme on Artificial intelligence is a welcome move and will give an impetus to the technology ecosystem in India. With a focus on development, it is a progressive budget and will be a next big leap in India's growth story. The delivery, however, will be contingent on effective implementation of these policies.