The Karnataka Chief Minister’s 12th state Budget has been criticized for many reasons, most stridently for the absence of a loan waiver for farmers. But, it does focus on agriculture by taking into account the consecutive years of drought and suggesting suitable proposals. And proposals for agricultural renewal help industry and business. A healthy agriculture sector will help businesses reduce input costs and pass on the benefit to end consumers.

Improving connectivity from farm to market, fast-tracking irrigation projects, and implementing unified marketing schemes to develop common platforms to procure farm produce could have been looked at as a means to boost both agriculture and industry. Special support for organic farming and its allied industries would have helped in building a healthier community. Organic and natural foods are the foods of the future, and the agriculture sector has to move towards this. There are a slew of startups allied with agriculture, and their survival is tied to the growth of the sector.

The budget, however, has no developmental plans for startups. Bengaluru is the startup hub but the Budget makes no mention of startups. Relaxed tax policies for startups would have opened up avenues. Food startups, for instance, require access to food tech parks, and a push for organic farming would have helped the food tech sector.

Urban development may seem far from the startup world but good infrastructure is essential to creating the right ecosystem, and so the Budget’s focus on decongesting Bengaluru and attention to cities outside the state capital is welcome. Environment-friendly initiatives like electric buses and the plan to tackle pollution by banning two-stroke engine autorickshaws will contribute to a cleaner natural environment. This might be a small beginning but can have real impact in future.

We’re in a space where we deliver fresh products every deliver fresh products every day, and negotiating traffic is a huge challenge. On-demand startups have it even harder than us. Improving roads will reduce costs, and improve service quality and efficiency. It’s time to stop viewing the economy in silos and look at the inter connectedness of the various sectors, and its impact on all our lives.

Source: Times of India