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Whether or not the Union Budget fulfills the promises made by the NDA government before coming to power is yet to be seen but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seems to have delivered on the promises made in the area of technology. In his budget speech delivered today, Jaitley reiterated the government's focus on Smart Cities, e-governance, digital education and inclusion by announcing concrete measures for their fulfillment. .
In the field of education, the finance minister has announced introduction of five new IITs and five more IIMs and has allocated a sum of Rs 500 crores for the same. To take advantage of the reach of the IT, Jaitley has allocated Rs 100 crore for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses.
According to Jayantha Prabhu, Group CTO, Essar Group, “Increasing the number of IITs and IIMs is a positive step. This will provide access to much needed high-quality human resources. The Budget has a special focus on the development of youth which is a welcome move as it will help create new generation employment opportunities. The CLICK initiative will go a long way in last mile connectivity through broadband.”
Prabhu also lauded the focus on developing smart cities. “Smart cities will drive adoption of technology,” he said.
Smart Cities, Smarter India
The finance minister has put forth a special emphasis on developing 'Smart Cities'. Jaitely, in his Budget speech said that as the fruits of development reach an increasingly large number of people, the pace of migration from the rural areas to the cities was increasing. A neo middle class was emerging which had the aspiration of better living standards. Unless, new cities were developed to accommodate the burgeoning number of people, the existing cities would soon become unlivable.
Referring to the Prime Minister's vision of developing ‘one hundred Smart Cities’, as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernising the existing mid-sized cities, Jaitley provided a sum of Rs 7,060 crore in the current fiscal for this purpose.
Echoing the positive sentiment, Tridib Bordoloi, CIO, PTI, “I think it is a good budget because the finance minster has shown intent to plug the loopholes. There is a lot for the IT industry and the announcement of putting in Rs 7,060 crore in building smart cities will be a big boost for many IT vendors.”
Digital Dividend
To bridge the divide between digital “haves” and “have-nots”, the finance minister plans to launch a pan India programme “Digital India”. This would ensure broadband connectivity at village level, improved access to services through IT enabled platforms, greater transparency in Government processes and increased indigenous production of IT hardware and software for exports and improved domestic availability. Special focus would be on supporting software product startups. A National Rural Internet and Technology Mission for services in villages and schools, training in IT skills and E-Kranti for government service delivery and governance scheme is also proposed. I have provided a sum of Rs 500 crore for this purpose.
Jaideep Mehta, VP and General Manager, IDC South Asia, said, “The e-governance programme to inter-link all ministries and departments is welcomed. India urgently needs to improve the efficiency of government functioning. While the details are yet to be made available, this initiative is likely to yield several hundred crores of revenue to the IT industry.”
He further added, “The duty reduction (from 4% to 0%) on imported PC components will give local electronics and computer manufacturing a boost; with the electronics import bill expected to exceed the oil import bill by 2025-2028, such measures are urgently needed. The net addition to the manufacturing base, job creation and cheaper PCs are all excellent outcomes of this budget proposal.”
Industry Upbeat
The mood in the IT industry reflects that there are a lot of positive moves the finance minister has taken to boost the IT industry.
Mehul Lanvers Shah, Managing Director, HMFI India (CeBIT India), said, “The move to enable easy online sales for local manufacturers is a positive step towards developing the sector, and look forward to further measures that will attract investments in the IT/electronics manufacturing arena where India remains much behind China in global exports. Overall, the IT industry can rejoice at a budget that banks on technology intervention for development.”
The announcement to modernise police departments also provides opportunities for the IT industry to use modern technology.
Koichiro Koide, MD, NEC India, “An allocation of Rs. 3000 crore towards modernisation of police departments is good news for the IT industry. This will promote investments in use of modern technology.”
He added, “The commitment to develop e-visa facilities at nine airports, and encouraging departments and ministries to be integrated through e-platform by the end of this year further indicates the government's intent to adopt and promote new technology for better governance.”
Summing up the buoyant mood, Bordoloi added, “Jaitley has resisted the temptation of making more announcements which his earlier predecessors did. I feel that two to three years down the line our economy will be back on track. I will not call it a populist budget but will applaud the finance minister for not putting too much stress on the exchequer. I would rate this budget 7.5 out of 10.”
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