Budget 2024: Focus on creativity, student empowerment, startup growth among expectations

NEW DELHI: With the union budget 2024 on its way to being presented by the union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the financial year 2024-25, student representatives expect focus on creativity and student empowerment.

Sharing expectations from the central budget 2024, Sanjay Gupta, vice-chancellor of World University of Design (WUD) stressed on the need for allocation to the creative sector and listed out the requirements as well as results. He said, “To fully harness this potential, India needs a robust policy framework focusing on education, infrastructure, and intellectual property. This can propel the creative economy's contribution to GDP from Rs 8.39 trillion to over Rs 20 trillion by 2030.”

“India, with its rich culture and talent, can mirror the success of creative powerhouses like the UK and South Korea. Unlocking this potential means significant export opportunities, cultural soft power, and becoming a global creative hub. The question is not about investing in the creative economy but about the cost of inaction. India must seize this opportunity before the gap with other countries widens further,” he remarked.

The VC backed his expectation with data showing that the country’s creative economy employs 8% of the workforce, however, contributes only 2.5% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), highlighting vast “untapped potential”.

‘While sectors like media and entertainment thrive, the broader creative landscape faces challenges including weak intellectual property protection, limited finance, and a critical skills gap,” Gupta said. He also mentioned that a British Council study found that 1.5 million Indians were working in cultural and creative industries in the year 2016 which hinted to a significantly larger workforce with better data. The university head thinks that piracy and the absence of specialized education are stopping India from growing.

Student-friendly budget

Chitranshu Mahant, CEO and co-founder of Primebook, a firm which designs laptops for students, expects focus on student empowerment in the upcoming Indian budget 2024-25.

Sharing his wishes, the entrepreneur said, "In the upcoming Union Budget 2024-25, we expect to see a focus on student empowerment and the growth of startups. We wish impetus may be given to digital infrastructure in the institutions of learning so every deserving student has access to affordable technology and digital literacy tools.”

Mahant believes that there has to be in-built occupation-based training as part of the higher educational institutes, so the academic curriculum is oriented towards the requirements of the industries. It will further equip students with the requisite skills required for the changing job market.

Growth of startups

The CEO demanded the government to bring incentive measures in the budget in favor of startups and to promote innovation. The funding toward research and development in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and the internet of things will further increase the pace of innovation and economic growth, he thinks.

Moreover, skill development programmes and industry-academic collaborations shall connect the missing link between education and employability, hereby making graduates job-ready, as per the businessman.

“We also look forward to policies that will encourage domestic production, support MSMEs, and reduce the digital divide—thereby providing an enabling business environment. If these are focused on in this budget, it would make for better futures of students & startups and drive India's progress in the global economy,” Mahant further stated.