Tech Budget 2022 expectations: Will smartphones become expensive? What about 5G?

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Tech Budget 2022 expectations: In a few hours from now, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil what is likely to dictate our finances for the fiscal year 2022-23. The Union Budget 2022 will be live in a few hours and as always, the technology sector is expected to get some attention. The industry is seeking reforms and tax benefits for a long term in a bid to sustain growth, considering the COVID-19 induced financial issues.

While we are in as much darkness as you when it comes to knowing what lays in store for us, we have certain expectations from the Budget 2022 for the technology industry. These are mostly developments based on recent situations and events, wherein the government could do its bid to boost income and other business aspects.

-5G could be a big topic for the Budget 2022. With the entire cellphone industry hinting at a airwaves auction in 2022, the government could be looking to implement new financial norms so as to make it more popular among people.

-Smartphone prices could continue to remain the same, given that India is somehow managing to keep up despite the pandemic effects. However, we expect the budget to reform the taxes on expensive phones, given that we have seen a lot of demand for smartphones under ₹50,000 in 2021.

-The Budget 2022 could also do something about the chip shortage situation. In order to secure a steady supply of semiconductor chips for our market, the government could play around with the taxes on component prices to force manufacturers to adopt more of the “Make in India” initiative. This could also help with the looming unemployment situation.

-With an increased demand for WFH gadgets such as laptops and wearables, the Budget 2022 could also consider tweaking the taxes.

-T