Cyber security, e-governance projects get major allocation in Budget

The Government has earmarked an outlay of ₹3,929.10 crore in the Union Budget 2014-15 for the electronics and information technology sector. This is double the money the IT Ministry spent in 2013-14.

According to industry veterans and analysts, the increased budget will not only provide opportunities to the sector, but also to the companies that provide products and services.

“Anything, which is capital intensive, will benefit both the Government and companies because the projects would be done through public private partnership (PPP),” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Greyhound Research. He said companies such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, BSNL and Reliance Communications, which are into infrastructure, servers and optical fibre businesses, would gain from such projects.

For projects such as National e-Governance Action Plan, the Finance Ministry has allocated ₹755 crore compared with zero last year. The objective of e-governance, in broader terms, is to make all Government services accessible to the common person in his/ her locality.

The Budget provision includes provisions under Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) to the tune of ₹15 crore and ₹40 crore respectively.

It also includes the provision of ₹100 crore each for — programme on good Governance and best practices — and programme on enabling all schools with virtual classrooms.

Similarly, in Digital India programme and manpower development for skill in IT and IT for masses, it has allocated ₹584 crore as compared an allocation of ₹90 crore last year, from which it spent ₹54.50 crore.

In cyber security, ₹116 crore has been allocated as against ₹53.37 crore last year, from which ₹42.37 crore were spent.

Also, lump-sum provision for North Eastern region and Sikkim has been increased to ₹306 crore in the current financial year from ₹300 crore last year, from which ₹214 crore were spent.

“Improved broadband facilities would help technology companies such as e-commerce, media, distance education and telecom to intensify their presence in rural areas and small cities,” said Ravi Mahajan, Tax Partner – Technology practice, EY.