The union budget 2023 is expected to boost the mega investment plans of large Indian corporates like Tata, Reliance Industries (RIL), Adani and JSW in new areas such as semiconductor and precision engineering, electric vehicle (EV), renewable power, battery manufacturing, and 5G technology and infrastructure, executives say.
Tata Group plans to invest $90 billion in the next five years to build new businesses like semiconductor and precision engineering, electric vehicle (EV), renewable power, battery manufacturing, and 5G technology and infrastructure. RIL targets to invest $50 billion in the next three years in building five Giga factories for renewable power infrastructure manufacturing, 5G, and chemicals. JSW and Adani groups also plan large investments in renewable and hydrogen space.
The Budget offers to set up 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services. The labs will cover applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and health care applications. It will help expand the 5G offerings of Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The labs will also help nurture startups in the 5G ecosystem, says an executive with a telecom major. Tata group is in the business of building a 5G hardware and infrastructure.
The corporate houses are also investing in green hydrogen, especially RIL, Adani, Tata Motors and JSW Energy. The Budget proposes an outlay of ₹19,700 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission to facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity, reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports, and help the country assume technology and market leadership in the sunrise sector. "Our target is to reach an annual production of 5 MMT by 2030," said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Budget speech.
According to the Budget, sustainability is going to be one of the prime focus areas of the government. The corporate houses also have their own targets to turn carbon neutral. The Budget proposes viability gap funding for battery energy storage systems with the capacity of 4,000 MWH.
Another area in which the corporates are interested is precision engineering, semiconductor, and mobile phone manufacturing. FM also said that mobile phone production in India has increased from 5.8 crore units valued at about ₹18,900 crore in 2014-15 to 31 crore units valued at over ₹2,75,000 crore in the last financial year. Samsung India has one of the world's largest mobile manufacturing facilities in Noida. The government wants the Indian companies to use the opportunity and start manufacturing in these engineering segments when the western counties look to reduce their China dependency.
Apple looks to enhance the manufacturing of its iPhone in India as it faces troubles in China. Indian companies including Tatas are looking to cash in on this opportunity.
"To further deepen domestic value addition in the manufacture of mobile phones, I propose to provide relief in customs duty on the import of certain parts and 30 inputs like the camera lens and continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year," says the minister.
Skilling is another focus area of the government that will help the companies to avail trained manpower in emerging business areas. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana will be launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three years. "The scheme will cover new age courses for Industry 4.0 like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills. To skill youths for international opportunities, 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different states," said Sitharaman.
