Friday, July 11, 2014: The Union Budget for 2014-15 comprises a host of provisions which are likely to help the technology sector and fuel further investments through several initiatives that involve technological intervention.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday proposed to set aside Rs 5,000 million under the “national rural internet and technology mission”, intended to promote local manufacturing of hardware and software products, braced with a special focus on “supporting software products startups”.
The technology sector can now also look forward to the opportunities created by the development of smart cities initiative announced by the minister, who set aside Rs 7,6000 Million to develop 100 smart cities in the country.
Another Rs 1,000 Million have been allocated to materialise a Technology Development Fund aimed at delivering resources to public and private sector companies “to support research and development of defence systems”.
In line with the government’s digital strategy, Jaitley said that all government departments and ministries would be incorporated through an e-platform by 31 December this year, in addition to a nationwide incubation and accelerator program, as well as an online platform for bill payments.
The government would also take steps to revive special economic zones (SEZs), and introduce e-visas at nine airports. The reduction of basic custom duty on LCD and LED panels below 48.26-cm (19-inch) to zero would entail that computer monitors become cheaper.
