BUDGET 2024-25: Mixed bag for tech

It’s the same story around June every year as the federal budget approaches. First, there’s the hype, with media outlets trying to guess what the grand plan is and inviting experts. True to form, the industry associations double down on their lobbying, repeating their cliched tripes about how the discontinuation of a particular incentive will apparently trigger a bankruptcy domino. On the other end, traders, real estate and agri lords resist any additional taxation measures, knowing full well that none of it would really impact them practically if not legally. Meanwhile, the finance czars pretend to do the balancing act between the will of the people and the demands of the International Monetary Fund, only to eventually milk the same salaried class again. Everything is boring and follows the same pattern the way an Ekta Kapoor soap opera does. It doesn’t really matter if the finance minister in question is an economist, a seasoned banker, or a chartered accountant with loving in-laws. At this point, the state machinery has become so creative with bookkeeping to maintain its fiscal indiscipline that any structural changes are beyond imagination.