“India is at the tipping point of a digital revolution,” remarked Communications and Information Technology Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad sometime ago. And today, the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, reiterated the government’s commitment of strengthening the digital payment infrastructure and grievance handling mechanisms by unleashing the power of mobile phones for digital payments and financial inclusion.
The Indian market is set to explode over the next few years as the country firms up the digitisation phase that was started in July of 2015 when the Government of India launched the national “Digital India” initiative to make government services available to citizens electronically; by bolstering internet connectivity and improving online infrastructure.
Today that vision is close to becoming a reality. To begin with, as outlined in the budget, focus would be on rural and semi-urban areas on farmers and small business owners who don’t have access to proper healthcare, education or financial inclusion. Increased digital transactions will enable these small and micro enterprises to access formal credit.
Mobile wallets and digital payments which saw a sudden spike in demand during the demonetisation wave, have continued to dominate the payment scene despite availability of cash. In addition to this, to promote digital transactions, the government also launched a new application called Bhim that incorporates India’s Unified Payment Interface system used by 600 million mobile users, and has been downloaded 11 million times. Introduction of Aadhaar Pay will be specifically beneficial for those who do not have debit cards, mobile wallets and mobile phones. This bodes well for the Indian economy which is increasingly getting equipped for a digital tomorrow.
To keep pace with this advancement, the government announced today that it will strengthen the Financial Inclusion Fund to augment resources for taking up these initiatives. New digital infrastructure will enable digital inclusion for people, create a society with minimal digital divide and unleash a tremendous amount of entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.
As Digital India becomes a reality, the next one billion consumers will drive unprecedented technological, social and economic transformation in the country. As reiterated by the Finance Minister, it has a transformative impact in terms of greater formalisation of the economy and mainstreaming of financial savings into the banking system. This, in turn, is expected to energise private investment in the country through lower cost of credit.
Not only this, with a massive consolidation expected in the telecom sector and the recent spectrum auctions that have removed spectrum scarcity in the country, the future of Digital India is safe and secured.
On a parting note, technology and connectivity will in all likelihood help the government become more transparent and accountable, citizens more tech-savvy and businesses more profitable and organised.
India is indeed ready for a digital revolution!
The author is Chairman and Managing Director, Intex Technologies
http://www.epaperindia.in/2017/02/budget-2017-govts-commitment-strengthen-digital-payments-will-go-long-way-digitising-economy/
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