Jagdish Mahapatra, MD, India and SAARC, McAfee speaks on McAfee’s expectations from Budget 2013-14.
“Over time, the Indian government has provided adequate concessions and provisions to the IT services and products industry owing to its significance from India’s GDP standpoint.”He says, “We want to get some clarity on treating software as goods – subject to VAT or as service, and subject to service tax.”
On his expectations from the budget, he further adds, “We hope that the Minimum Alternate Tax levied on SEZs, severely affecting foreign investments in India, is discontinued, or reduced drastically. This would lend strategic benefits and ensure continued thrust on investments from companies with a long term focus on India.”
On the UID project that the government rolled out last year, his statement was, “The last year’s budget saw the Finance Minister’s support the roll-out of UID in 50 districts. This will act as a catalytic force that will not only enable financial inclusion, but also help the rural populous in gaining identity and for the daily wage workers. We would also like to take this opportunity in assuring our support to the government’s UID project and assistance required in the security requirements for the program.”
Talking about his expectations from the Union Budget in light of increased sophistication in cyber attacks, Jagdish says, “As India has witnessed sophisticated cyber crime cases affecting both enterprises and consumers, it has become increasingly important for us to have an evolved security system.. Entities such as CERT have been playing a pivotal role in enhancing the security of India’s Communications and Information Infrastructure through proactive action and user awareness. We would expect the Union Budget to apportion more grants to ensure secure data access for all Indians.”
