Tech firms welcome Budget, want focus on digitisation to continue

FM proposes three centres of excellence to build AI solutions and 100 labs to develop applications using 5G services

Software and technology companies on Wednesday praised the Budget’s announcements for research and artificial intelligence (AI) while demanding continued focus on the digital economy.

The government plans to deploy digital solutions in seven priority areas: from infrastructure and last-mile delivery in the financial sector. The Budget proposed establishing three centres of excellence (CoE) to build AI solutions for agriculture, health, and sustainable cities. It said the government will establish 100 labs to develop applications using 5G services, as they offer new opportunities, business models, and employment.

Rekha M Menon, chairperson and senior managing director at Accenture in India, said the AI centres could be extended for use in more sectors.

“While agriculture, healthcare and sustainable cities are the current focus of CoEs, India has multidimensional potential—AI can add an estimated $450-500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025, and more than 60 per cent will be from four key sectors--financial services, consumer packaged goods and retail, healthcare, and industrials and automotive. India will need to continue to invest in these centres to keep pace with the evolving tasks across all sectors,” Menon said.

“To achieve the vision of 'Make AI work for India', the COEs will need to shift focus from experimental to applied technology, take advantage of innovation in ancillary technologies around Automation and low code platforms, drive focus on upskilling and responsible AI. India is well poised to come up with its own thinking through these COEs and enterprises to offer AI as a service in the years to come,” said Purushothaman K G, partner and head, Digital Solutions & Telecommunications Industry Leader at KPMG India.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech the government may soon implement the National Data Governance Framework (NDGF) to open up anonymized and non-personal datasets for innovation and research by Indian start-ups and academia. The policy was released for public consultation in May 2022. It aims to modernise the government’s data collection and boost AI and the data-led start-up ecosystem in the country.

“The introduction of the data governance policy is quintessential to effectively drive growth initiatives of start-ups to monetise non-personal data in a secure and legal manner. The benefits that will derive from access to anonymised data will enable data models in machine learning and AI to be tested across industries. The policy will also be reviewed in conjunction with the initiative of the government on the Data Protection Bill, 2022,” said Purushothaman.

According to Budget estimates, the government may allocate a total of Rs 16,549.04 crore for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the agencies under it. Budgetary allocation for the ministry has grown by 41.2 per cent compared to the revised estimate of Rs 11719.95 crore in FY2022-23.

 “While there is focus on MSMEs and start-ups, there could have been more visible steps taken to reignite the start-up culture and ease of doing business in the country. Overall, this uplifts the mood of the country. The Budget promotes advanced skills training and modern digital technologies to create a pool of highly-skilled professionals essential for nation-building. Investing in these areas is crucial for economic growth and stability,” said Anuj Khurana, CEO and co-founder of IT services and consulting company Anaptyss.

NASSCOM, which represents software and services companies, said the government has presented a growth-oriented Budget.

“The highlight of the budget is from beginning to end it is about a very confident growth. India has demonstrated tremendously strong commitment and a real plan to lead its competitive advantage in digital transformation, energy transformation, and the new supply chain resilience,” said Debjani Ghosh, the president of NASSCOM.

CP Gurnani, managing director & chief executive director, Tech Mahindra Said, “The push towards comprehensive skilling of youth, Industry 4.0, Coding, Internet of Things (IoT), and the establishment of a dedicated AI Center of Excellence, is a visionary move that will lead to job creation and give a competitive edge to India’s talented workforce. Further, the special emphasis on energy transition will enable India to lead by example on the sustainability front towards a net zero emissions economy.”

 

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