The announcement of government planning to make one lakh villages into ‘Digital Villages’ over the next five years, is a further push to one of the pet projects of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’.

“India is now leading the world in the consumption of mobile data. Monthly consumption of mobile data increased by over 50 times in the last five years. The cost of data and voice calls in India is now possibly the lowest in the world,” the stand-in Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said in his Interim Budget.

Speedy tax refunds

He also said all income-tax returns will be processed in 24 hours and refunds issued simultaneously.

“Within the next two years, almost all verification and assessment of returns selected for scrutiny will be done electronically through anonymised back-office, manned by tax experts and officials, without any personal interface between taxpayers and tax officers,” Goyal said.

The Budget has allocated ₹2,140 crore as expenditure to the nodal Ministry – Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) – for April-July. The estimated demand from MeitY was ₹6,420 crore for the full financial year.

However, the interim Budget did not give any clarity on Angel Tax on start-ups , which everyone was expecting from this Budget.

“While the Finance Minister focussed on education, jobs and start-ups, the industry’s key ask towards abolition of Angel Tax, and various GST clarifications did not a find mention. We hope that these will be resolved through a due consultative process,” said Nasscom.

Re-skilling challenges

Additionally, in line with the 10 dimensions of the government’s 2030 vision, the industry body also felt that there must be a national initiative on re-skilling to create future-ready talent.

The government was working on connecting more than six-lakh villages through 2.50 lakh gram panchayats under the BharatNet project, which is also going on at a slower pace and getting delayed.

Some experts felt that the plan (one-lakh digital villages) is ambitious, will usher in the much-needed digital revolution under the ‘Digital India’ initiative, and will help in last-mile connectivity. This will also bridge the rural-urban digital divide, and will open avenues to jobs and employment creation, said Internet & Mobile Association of India.

This would mean more use of electronic items and mobile phones, which also means those sectors growing along with digitisation. India already has now around 268 mobile and accessories manufacturing factories, employing around seven-lakh people.

Accessories such as power bank manufacturing is becoming a big industry in India with a market of around ₹2,000 crore, which may go up to ₹15,000 crore in the future.

“The target of extending connectivity to create one-lakh digital villages over the next five years will further reduce the digital divide, and spur digital entrepreneurship in rural areas. The Budget strikes the right balance between progressive initiatives and fiscal prudence, and merits an 8 out of 10,” V Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer, Tata Consultancy Services, said.