New Delhi: Digital public infrastructure for agriculture, access to anonymised data through the proposed national data governance policy, DigiLocker facilities for MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises), and a simplified yet multipronged approach to KYC (Know-your-customer) measures. These are some of the key highlights from the Budget 2023 in the digital and technology sectors.
According to the Budget website, there has been a drop in the allocation of funds for Digital India. This year the Centre has budgeted Rs 4,795.24 crore for its flagship programme — 37 per cent lower than the revised estimate of Rs 7,603.50 crore. It’s significant to note that the revised budget estimate was 26 per cent lower than the previous budget estimate of Rs 10,676.18 crore.
This means that the Budget for Digital India has been slashed by 55 per cent from the last Budget.
However, the overall allocation for centrally-sponsored tech-related schemes in the sector this year has gone up to Rs 12,440.28 crore — 16.5 per cent higher than the budget estimate of Rs 10,676.18 crore and 59 per cent higher than the revised estimate of Rs 7,803.50 crore in the previous year’s budget.
Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman called it a “technology-driven” Budget and said that support for digital payment infrastructure such as UPI (Unified Payments Interface) “will continue in 2023-24”.
“7,400 crore digital payments of ₹126 lakh crore have taken place through UPI in 2022. Digital payments continue to find wide acceptance,” the Budget document read.
National Data Governance Policy
The Modi government will be introducing a national data governance policy that will focus on “innovation and research by startups and academia”. The policy will enable access to anonymised data, Sitharaman said in his speech.
“The KYC process will be simplified by adopting a ‘risk-based’ instead of a ‘one size fits all’ approach. The financial sector regulators will also be encouraged to have a KYC system fully amenable to meet the needs of Digital India,” Sitharaman said.
“Anonymisation” refers to the removal or modification of data, such as Aadhaar numbers and addresses in order to protect an individual’s identity. This measure helps in data privacy while assisting firms and entities to pick relevant data for research purposes without knowing all details of an individual.
The development comes five months after the Modi government drew criticism for having abruptly taken down the draft guidelines for data anonymisation it had put up on the information technology ministry for feedback.
Titled ‘Guidelines for Anonymisation of Data (AoD)’, the document was released on 30 August 2022 and was supposed to remain open for comments until 21 September.
Also read: Budget 2023: Fiscal deficit to meet 6.4% target in FY23, aim for 5.9% in FY24, says Sitharaman
Expanding the scope of DigiLocker, PAN & pushing 5G services
The central government is expanding the scope of the Permanent Account Number and its flagship “digital wallet”, DigiLocker.
In her Budget speech, Sitharaman said DigiLocker and Aadhaar will be used as a “one-stop solution for reconciliation and updating of identity and address of individuals maintained by various government agencies, regulators and regulated entities”.
DigiLockers will be set up for MSMEs as well as big businesses and charitable trusts for the purpose of storing and sharing documents “online securely”, the Budget said.
In addition, the PAN will also be used as the “common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies”. Business entities are required to unveil PAN details, the minister said, adding that this mechanism will be “facilitated through a legal mandate”.
The central government will also establish digital embassies to facilitate “digital continuity solutions” for countries who are searching for such services through the International Financial Services Centre.
For a significant 5G push, the Modi government has announced that it will set up 100 labs “for 5G services-based application development to realize a new range of opportunities, business models, and employment potential”.
The finance minister said the government will launch Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 — the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)’s flagship skill development programme implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation.
This scheme will help in skilling “youth” in the next three years by “covering new age courses for Industry 4.0 like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT (internet of things), 3D printing, drones, and soft skills”, the minister said.
Open-sourced networks for Agri-tech
In line with the IT ministry’s goal to promote more “open-sourced networks“, the Budget reiterated the need for this technology to exist in different sectors, including agriculture.
“The digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as an open source, open standard, and interoperable public good. This will enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of the agri-tech industry and start-ups,” Sitharaman said in her speech.
In addition, the government will promote a “national digital library for children and adolescents” wherein e-books from different geographies, languages, genres, and levels will be curated for easy access, the minister said, adding that this feature is also aimed to have “device agnostic accessibility”.
State governments will also be “encouraged” to provide infrastructure at panchayat and ward levels to access these resources.
The Budget also mentions setting up a ‘Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions’ — a digital epigraphy museum that will aim to possess the capability of digitising close to one lakh ancient inscriptions in the first stage.
In order to realise its vision of “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India”, the Modi government will set up three centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions, the minister said.
“Leading industry players will partner in conducting interdisciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications, and scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities. This will galvanise an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in the field,” Sitharaman said in her speech.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Read: Budget 2023: Health allocation puts focus on pharma research, collaborative R&D at ICMR labs