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Digitalisation
Rising prices of data and devices are a concern for the rapid proliferation of digitisation, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday. The comments have come against the backdrop of a recent hike of about 57 per cent in the minimum monthly recharge plan by the country's second-largest telco Bharti Airtel. "Rise in cost of data or cost of devices are of concern because they are impediments in rapid digitisation," Chandrasekhar said. The minister said that he is not exactly aware of the hike in mobile services rates by Airtel and the ministry may approach telecom regulator Trai to examine if the hike is going to have a short-term or long-term impact. He said that there has been an impact on prices across the world due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the impact of data price need to be examined. Bharti Airtel has increased the price of its minimum recharge for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 per cent to Rs 155 in eight circles, ..
Technology investor Prosus on Wednesday reported widening of its consolidated trading loss to USD 80 million, about Rs 654 crore, on account of investment in PayU India business during first half of the current fiscal. The Netherlands-based investor firm, however, registered a 59 per cent growth in total payments volume (TPV) at USD 28 billion, about Rs 2.29 lakh crore, in India. PayU revenue increased to USD 183 million, about Rs 1,497 crore. "Consolidated trading losses expanded to USD 80 million, as we continued to invest in growing our credit operations in India. In India, our largest payments market, TPV grew 59 per cent to USD 28 billion, and revenue increased 48 per cent to USD 183 million, following increased digitalisation in e-commerce, financial services and bill payments, and a rebound in post pandemic travel," the company said. The Prosus group's overall trading loss widened to USD 1.4 billion during the reported period from USD 2.8 billion a year ago. The revenue of
India is likely to become a USD 40 trillion economy by 2047 -- a 13-fold jump from its current size -- driven primarily by a clean energy revolution and digitalisation, billionaire Mukesh Ambani said on Tuesday. Ambani's estimate for the Indian economy, currently the fifth largest in the world behind only the US, China, Japan and Germany, is more optimistic than Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, who last week stated that India will become a USD 30 trillion economy by 2050 on back of rising consumption and socio-economic reforms. "From a 3 trillion-dollar economy, India will grow to become a 40 trillion-dollar economy by 2047, ranking among the top three economies of the world," Ambani said at the 10th convocation of Pandit Deendayal Energy University here. As the 'Amrit Kaal' -- the period between now and 2047 when India will be celebrating 100 years of independence -- unfolds, the country will witness an unprecedented explosion in economic growth and opportunities, he asserted. "Th
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started accepting electronic bank guarantees and digitalised all its existing bank guarantees, an official statement said on Wednesday. The move is aimed at improving the efficiency and transparency of internal processes and taking forward the adoption of digital technology. NHAI is using the electronic bank guarantee services of the National e-Governance Services Ltd, which helps in the reduction of physical paper movement, doing away with physical storage needs and easy access to the bank guarantee life cycle, including renewal. Few electronic bank guarantees (E-BGs) have already been issued by banks in favour of NHAI. "E-BGs promote transparency, bring in several efficiencies and provide ease of doing business to our stakeholders," Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways & Chairperson, NHAI, said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attributed India's sustained economic growth to the efforts of the BJP government to replace pre-2014 'phone banking' with 'digital banking'. Referring to the previous UPA regime, he said under 'phone banking', instructions were given on phone to banks regarding whom they had to lend to and at what terms and conditions. "The economy of any country is as progressive as its banking system is strong," the Prime Minister said after dedicating 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) to the nation via video-conference. Observing that the country has shifted from the pre-2014 'phone banking' system to digital banking in the last eight years, he said "as a result, India's economy is moving forward with a continuum." Modi said before 2014, the banks used to get phone calls to decide their functioning, and added "phone banking politics had made the banks unsafe and made the country's economy insecure by sowing the seeds of thousands of crores of scams." The ..