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Budget 2016: Here's what media, advertising agencies want from Arun Jaitley

The media and advertising industry in India is one of the fastest growing in the world with a growth rate of 15.5% in 2016

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The media and advertising industry in India is one of the fastest growing in the world with a growth rate of 15.5% in 2016. With the Union Budget 2016 slated for Monday, here are the expectations of the sector.

1. Push for Digital India: V Narayanan, Chief Growth Officer, Motivator said, "India ranks second globally with 30% Internet penetration, still to catch up with China (50%) and USA (87%). Hence, expectations should continue to disproportionately support Digital India project to the fullest to foster digital enabling and empowerment." 

Narayanan adds that this initiative should help two things, one, to accelerate the digital adoption in rural India, largely recruited through mobile and, second, plausibly superior internet bandwidth to encourage higher usage of online content, hence driving online economy.

Similarly, Tripti Lochan, CEO South East Asia & India, VML says that with access to digital information brands will get consumers across India making smart decisions on the go. 'But for this to happen 2016 needs to be the year when the ‘Digital India’ ambition goes into action," she says.

2. No hike in service tax: "It is imperative to maintain the service tax (Service + Cess + Education) rate at 14% or reduce it further from the current level service tax  should be ideally removed for Technology & Online Based Start-ups," said Narayanan.

"We prefer that VAT and service tax is not increased as it affects our business directly," said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network. 

3. Implementation of GST: Bhasin said that he looked forward to the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST). This he said will benefit the industry. 

Similarly, Narayanan said that the introduction of the GST Bill should also benefit the media & entertainment sector.

4. Rationalisation of taxation policy: key expectations during this budget for the industry Bhasin said would be the simplicity in the taxation policy. "The process needs to be simplified and ease of paying taxes and dealing with tax officials," he said. He added, "Make the taxation process simple, transparent and easy to pay."

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