'Would Like GST Exemption On All Cancer Drugs' Kiran Mazumdar Shaw | NDTV Profit - video Dailymotion

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00:00We're getting you all the top corporate views on budget 2024 right here on NDTV Profit and I'm in

00:05conversation now with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and executive chairperson of Biocon.

00:11Ma'am, great to speak with you on NDTV Profit and get your view on the budget.

00:16Let me start with your sector, the healthcare sector and others we spoke to from this space.

00:22Their first response was good budget but a tad disappointment that more was not done for

00:29healthcare. What would you say? You know, I've always been, you know,

00:35crying for investment in research and innovation and I was happy that the government finally

00:42made a serious plug for investing in this area. I think they clearly talked about research and

00:50innovation not only in agri but also in every other sector. Of course, it remains to be seen

00:56how much of that one lakh crore will come to the pharma sector and how it will come, whether it's

01:02in the form of grants, whether it is in the form of, you know, tax incentives. So let's wait for

01:09that but at least it's a step in the right direction. As far as, you know, the duty

01:14exemption on two cancer drugs is concerned, I think that's just symbolism. I think what I would

01:20like to see is GST exemption on all cancer drugs and all cancer diagnostics because that is what

01:28really will reduce out-of-pocket expenses for patients because these are expensive treatments

01:35and we need to focus on affordability. Okay, so more could have been done on

01:42diagnostics and healthcare overall but the big push in this budget is undoubtedly on employment

01:48and I want to get your view there because we keep speaking consistently about jobs and what

01:53the budget can do for jobs. Do you think that everything in the armoury possible was used?

02:00Are you happy with what they have done for jobs and incentivising employers?

02:05Well, you know, Tamanna, I think, you know, jobs has been a focus in this budget

02:10and I think they focused on skilling and skill development through internship,

02:15which I think is the right approach in terms of focusing on employability and

02:21jobs for the future and I think it is a win-win to basically marry government

02:29subsidies in internships with CSR. So, I think that is the right approach. So, let us see how

02:38it all pans out but right now we know that there are a large number of manufacturing opportunities

02:44that India is trying to address and for that you really need a larger skill force and if you can

02:52actually use this internship programme to skill your labour force or your manufacturing workforce,

03:00then I think you have a good chance of getting a lot of that manufacturing coming our way.

03:08In terms of the internship programme and also the subsidy for new employees, for EPFO,

03:16do you think that incentivises and I am not talking about only large companies like yourselves,

03:21the idea is to have more smaller companies also go out and hire more.

03:25Is there enough of an incentive from an employer perspective?

03:29You know, I do not really subscribe to that as much as I subscribe to the internship programme.

03:37So, that is where I will sort of, you know, rest my comments.

03:41How the internship works from the CSR fund?

03:45I think internships can work very well because, you know, a lot of countries are

03:50very successfully shown that internship and apprenticeship programmes really work very well

03:56in terms of employability, employment and of course upskilling.

04:01In terms of push to manufacturing and I will get one comment from you on this,

04:05it was expected that the PLI schemes would be doubled down upon, you would create

04:10more incentives for companies to come and expand manufacturing, that was not really done.

04:16Likewise, no clarity on whether the 15% corporate tax rate incentives will be continued or not.

04:22Would you have hoped to hear more on that?

04:25So, let us hope that it will continue.

04:28I mean, they have, I mean, you know, sometimes you feel that if it is unsaid,

04:31it means that it is continuing.

04:33I really would like to see the 15% tax rate applied both to Greenfield and Brownfield

04:40projects because I think in Brownfield projects, they are trying to upgrade

04:45their facilities and modernize their facilities.

04:48So, that also needs a 15% tax incentive, you know, in terms of the tax rate.

04:55But I think in terms of the PLI scheme, they have basically indicated that they will not

05:00expand the scope of the PLI scheme beyond the sectors that they have addressed right now.

05:05But I would like to see the PLI scheme increasing in allocation because there is a need for

05:12capital employment by industry.

05:15Just to wrap up, what would be your one big positive and one thing that you found wanting

05:23in terms of the budget announcements?

05:26I think overall, I would say that the budget really signaled very positively that they

05:32wanted to focus on certain economic drivers.

05:36You know, one being, of course, jobs, you know, the climate initiatives, green technologies,

05:44cutting-edge future technologies, and of course, research and innovation.

05:48So, I have no, you know, complaints on those fronts.

05:53I think we didn't hear enough about GST rationalization and maybe that's something

05:58that we will have to wait for.

06:00Yeah, and then perhaps GST rationalization is also something that the GST Council has

06:04to look at.

06:06So, we will wait for that.

06:07It's also a stated aim.

06:09But thank you so much for speaking with us today.

06:12Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw there, welcoming the budget and especially the allocations on R&D.

'Would Like GST Exemption On All Cancer Drugs' Kiran Mazumdar Shaw | NDTV Profit

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