"At present small and medium IT/Technology companies in India are reeling under the pressure of growing cost due to increasing wages of employees and higher operating costs due to factors like petrol price rise, growing interest costs and inflation," said Mr Vikas Khanvelkar, Managing Director, DesignTech Systems Ltd, commenting on the forthcoming budget proposals. "Growing USD rate is also making foreign business promotion expensive for them. Government should provide tax incentives to SME technology companies as they create large employment opportunities in the country," he added.

For SME technology companies, taxation should also be made simpler to keep them competitive. Ambiguous multiple taxation of VAT, CST and service tax should be simplified.

"Overall budget should be such that it will give boost to sagging economy. To achieve this overall Service Tax and Excise duty rates should not be increased and GST should be introduced fast. This will help economy grow and in turn will also boost investor confidence in the country making Rupee more stable," Mr Khanvelkar said, elaborating the point further.

DesignTech Systems is a leading CAD/CAM/CAE and PLM solutions provider in India. With offices spread across the country, it has served to more than 2000 customers across various domains in India and overseas. DesignTech also has a very strong Engineering Services practice and provide services to many manufacturing companies in India and abroad. DesignTech Systems has been adjudged as top 50 Emerge companies by Nasscom. DesignTech Systems was recipient of prestigious Maharashtra IT Award by Government of Maharashtra.

Mr Vikas Khanvelkar has a rich experience of over 30 years in this industry. He has acquired his Bachelor of Engineering in (Electronics & Telecomm) from College of Engineering Pune (COEP), and has pursued his Masters in Business Administration and specialized in Marketing.

Prior to starting his own business DesignTech Systems Ltd in 1998, Mr. Khanvelkar was associated with HCL Infosystems for 9 years, where he was heading CAD/CAM Division as a Country Manager for 5 years.

He has always worked on introducing latest technologies in the Indian Market right from the concept stage, be it CNC Technology; Variable speed DC, AC and Servo Drives; or CAD/CAM Technology.