“We are confident that the proposed measures such as the National Digital Health Ecosystem and the tele mental health program will raise awareness, and in turn encourage people to opt for health insurance,’’ said. PC Kandpal, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance
Mumbai:
Though, the pandemic hit insurance industry was disappointed for not being provided any new direct incentives to boost its growth, has cheered the steps taken by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for boosting country’s infrastructure, economic expansion, digitalization.
PC Kandpal, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance said the Union Budget outlines the government’s strong vision for economy revival and macro-economic growth with a focus on digitalization and boosting the healthcare infrastructure.
“We are confident that the proposed measures such as the National Digital Health Ecosystem and the tele mental health program will raise awareness, and in turn encourage people to opt for health insurance,’’ he said.
Further, the thrust on digitalisation through the measures around digital currency, payments and fintech will boost the digital economy and lead to greater ecosystem collaborations, benefiting customers. The budget also widens progress for MSMEs and agriculture sector, he said.
“We are optimistic that collectively these steps will aid in improving insurance penetration in the country,” he added.
Tarun Chugh, MD& CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance said, the overall budget had two positive highlights – one is on the infrastructure push and the other on how systematically the government is prioritising digitisation and building the eco-system.
“I believe these are the key attributes towards the country’s sustained long-term growth. As an industry, the life insurance sector, has systematically played its role in nation building by leveraging our long-term funds towards infra projects and other similar projects of the nation. The focus of this budget only sharpens our role in nation building,’’ he said.
Furthermore, the discussion on NPS is also timely as we need to continuously emphasise on the need to invest towards post retirement needs irrespective of the customer segment discussed in this budget, he said.
“I believe through interventions of these kinds on national platforms will only enable many more people realise the benefits of saving towards their retirement needs. I’m hopeful that the government will enable the life insurance industry to play a greater role in bringing in more people to save towards retirement needs, in the time to come,” said Chugh.
Mahesh Balasubramanian, managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance company said, “The FM announced a massive capital expenditure(CAPEX) plan at Rs 7.5 lakh crore which is a whopping 35% growth over last year clearly showing the intent to do the heavy lifting when it comes to leading investment-led growth and job creation.
The large CAPEX, one hopes, will lead to downstream investments by the private sector as well. This will put the country on a 9% growth trajectory for the next few years coming on the back drop of a 9.2% growth estimated for FY 22.
The good news is that the entire excess fiscal deficit is going towards Capex which will have a multiplier effect on the economy, he said..
Srikanth Kandikonda, chief financial officer, ManipalCigna, Health Insurance, said, “The announcement to roll out – National Digital Health Ecosystem that consist of digital registries of health providers and facilities, will provide further boost to universal access of better healthcare facilities. The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages.
“Thus, the launch of – National Tele Mental Health Programme will give access to quality mental health counselling and care services.
In addition to these positive steps, if the government would have considered reduction in the GST rate on health insurance premium and increase the limit of tax deduction for health insurance under section 80D, these initiatives would have further helped millions of people access quality healthcare at an affordable cost,he said..
Harshad Patil, chief investments officer, Tata AIA Life Insurance said, the Budget provides a sustained impetus for creating world class integrated multi-modal transport and logistics infrastructure while focusing on inclusive development, facilitating energy transition as well as providing a roadmap for financing investments.
The equity markets have welcomed the growth oriented budget as well as the outsized increase in capex provided for.
The Union Budget pegged the fiscal deficit for FY 2021-22 at 6.9% of GDP, a marginal slippage of the earlier budgeted 6.8% and attempted a modest fiscal consolidation at 6.4% of the GDP for FY 2022-23. The gross borrowing stands at an elevated Rs 14.95 trillion for FY 22-23, considerably above market expectations. The fixed income market would seek further clarity regarding the financing mechanism for the same in the coming days, he said.
Sreedhar, MD & CEO, Royal Sundaram General Insurance said, the initiatives around expanding the digital banking units as well as National Digital Health Ecosystem, hopefully should help to boost the demand for general insurance by creating more awareness amongst the citizens across the country.
Saransh Garg, CEO & Co-founder, Nova Benefits, said the government’s initiative towards mental Health support is noteworthy and timely, and comes as a progressive move especially with regards to a subject that is not talked about enough in mainstream politics and finance. Enabling easy access to mental health counselling via the National Tele Mental Health Program is the need of the hour, and is a welcome move which will be beneficial to people across the country.
This is indeed a fabulous win for mental health in India, and is also a clear indicator to organisations across the country to take note and focus on furthering initiatives towards employee mental health and wellness, he said/. From a startup perspective, the extension of the tax holiday for new startups comes as a blessing. For young startups established in the recent past, the post pandemic phase has been extremely challenging and competitive making survival difficult. This move gives hope for new and upcoming startups to make their mark in the industry, stated Garg.