Budget 2017: Govt should announce dedicated spending on ICT to bolster digital ecosystem

Chandan Kumar, Director- Marketing & Integrated Solutions, Huawei India

Today India is at the center of world’s attention and thanks to the vision and initiatives undertaken by the present government.

Key national initiatives like Digital India, Make in India, Smart Cities, Skill India has given an impetus to the Indian economy and has brought lot of confidence to both domestic and foreign investors.

To further bolster the digital eco-system of the country, the government should announce dedicated spending on information and communication technology (ICT) just like some other sectors like education, health and other infrastructure. A fixed percentage of the government budget spend on digital infrastructure will give multi fold returns to India’s GDP and help bridge the digital divide by bringing more and more Indians to the digital main stream.

 Last year, the government led the way by conducting the mega spectrum auction and also introducing progressive policies like RoW rule 2016, M&A, Spectrum sharing and trading VNO regulations among others.

The move will indefinitely help faster network roll outs, immensely  benefiting the industry as well as consumers. In the same light, we hope this year’s Budget will give the essential infrastructure status to the telecom sector and identify the sector as a strategic area. This will help in easy access of capital at reduced financing costs thus making it easier to roll out digital infrastructure.

The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author.