On Thursday Financial Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the interim Budget 2024 called this to be a a golden era for the tech-savvy youth. A corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore will be established with a fifty-year interest-free loan. Reportedly, the corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates. This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation. It is believed that India needs to have programmes which can combine the powers of our youth and technology. “Harnessing the youth’s energy and embracing technological advancements, will pave the way for a future where creativity, entrepreneurship, and digital prowess converge to shape a thriving and resilient nation,” Nischal Shetty, co-founder, Shardeum, an EVM-based L1 blockchain platform, told FE-TransformX.
It was further announced that a new scheme will be introduced for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’. New-age technologies such as deep-tech, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), among others, can fuel businesses and startups. Experts believe that digital public infrastructure, a new ‘factor of production’ in the 21st century, has the potential to formalise the economy. “Deeptech innovation is transforming sectors such as healthcare and clean energy, among others, which can bolster India’s global economic competitiveness. The economic policies aim to sustain growth, foster inclusive development, enhance productivity, create opportunities, and generate resources for investments and aspirations,” Gaurav Sahay, practice head (technology and general corporate), Fox Mandal & Associates, a law firm, explained.
As per media reports, India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) has enabled $400 billion (Rs 29 lakh crore) benefits worth of transfers to beneficiaries in the past five years, along with developing India’s GDP. Reportedly, the digital economy now accounts for almost 10% of India’s total GDP, up from 3.5% a few years ago. “With the government’s recent approval of Rs 1.39 lakh crore for the BharatNet Project to enhance rural internet connectivity, the digital landscape of India is set to expand even further. This will not only increase the reach of digital marketing but can also bring in a new demographic of consumers into the digital fold,” Vikram Kumar, MD and founder, SRV Media, digital marketing agency, highlighted.
Furthermore, the new budget plan around improving deep-tech technologies can also enable new economic opportunities and facilitate the provision of high-quality services at affordable prices for all, including those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Opportunities for India at the global level are expanding. India is expected to show solutions through innovation and entrepreneurship of its people. In line with the government’s vision of technology contributing 20-25% to the GDP by 2025, this forward-looking budget can contribute to the development of the information technology (IT) sector. “ The injection of long-term, interest-free capital promises to substantially boost our research and development initiatives that serve not only India but also the global market. This financial support can speed up efforts to create innovations in India for the world, “ Shreeranganath Kulkarni, managing director, InfoVision, a digital transformation platform, concluded.
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