BUDGET 2023: Technology, knowledge and skill-driven growth prospects

Budget 2023 is designed to strengthen the telecom sector and create a robust digital infrastructure critical to fully realise India's long-term growth potential

- JAIDEEP GHOSH

The Indian Union Budget 2023 places a strong emphasis on digital public infrastructure as a driving force for growth. The Economic Survey 2022-23 states that India's digital public infrastructure could increase its potential GDP growth rate by up to 1%.

India's digital growth has been led by initiatives such as Aadhaar, Jan Dhan Yojana, COWIN, Unified Payments Interface or UPI, Central Bank Digital Currency, and various fintech developments. This trend is set to continue with the introduction of a simplified Know Your Customer, the KYC process and the strengthening of DigiLocker as a comprehensive data management solution. The establishment of a National Digital Library will provide access to information for a diverse range of socio-economic groups.

India is already the fastest-growing major economy in the world, with a 5.5% average GDP growth over the past decade. However, progress in Science and Technology has hardly been encouraging. India ranked 61st globally in World Economic Forum's recent Network Readiness Index report, which measures readiness to leverage ICT, among other factors. China is ranked 23, Indonesia is 39, and the US is ranked at the top.

In that context, plans to establish 30 Skill India international centres, 100 labs for developing 5G applications and centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence could bridge the efforts of the government, research institutions and the industry.