‘Union Budget 2022-23 is brimming with technology opportunities for innovation and implementation across all sectors’: The Institution of Engineering and Technology, India

Press Release

• 10-02-2022

Bangalore: The Union Budget announcement has been defined by technology leaders across the country as forward-looking, focussed on moving beyond conversations to actual implementation of emerging technologies for problem solving. From healthcare to urban planning to logistics - the vision of “India at 100” is at the heart of the approach of digital transformation for national growth for the next 25 years. The budget also highlights the key role of private-public partnerships, with various announcements aimed at boosting investments in the start-up sector and private participation in areas such as infrastructure and agriculture.

According to Dr, Rishi Bhatnagar, Chairman - Future of Technology Panel, IET India and President - Aeris, “Pleased to see the continuous focus of the government implementing technology to improve ease of doing business and enhance ease of living. E-passport with chips, digital rupees using blockchain, drones for agriculture, 5G implementation all are concrete steps for implementation and supporting future technologies. There’s a clear direction to encourage start-ups and PLIs for multiple sectors, opening up to measures battery swapping are steps to create more jobs and support new business models. It has been my statement always that new technologies bring new types of jobs and new business models, hence we need new policies and skills. All of which are well-managed in this budget.“

Commenting on the impact on the education sector, Mr. Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director - IET India said “The outtakes for the Education sector from the Union Budget presented today are the most encouraging. After an overwhelming two years of the pandemic-induced online classes resulted in serious losses for learning and education, the push towards setting up a robust e-education infrastructure is very welcome. From the increase in educational TV channels to 200, to provisioning for e-classes with regional content and a structured digital training program for teachers - the announcements today will go a long way in making the e-learning transition smoother and more effective. Personalised learning is the future, and the government has recognized that with the establishment of a digital university featuring the best private and public universities in a hub-and-spoke model.

Measures that highlight the importance of industry partnerships in upskilling and job seeking - the National Skills Qualitative Framework and the API-based Digital Stack programme, are heartening and will give the jobs market the much-needed boost. Other areas that the Budget touched upon (including AI, Geospatial, drones, semiconductor, urban planning) are all areas that will see sharp growth in education and training, especially with the involvement of AICTE. The focus on mental health will also have to be carried forward to education and training teachers in this aspect to help students and the impact the last two years have had on their mental health.”

Another area that has been opened up by the Budget announcements in an extremely encouraging and progressive manner is Healthcare. “The open digital platform will go a long way in optimising the usage of our healthcare infrastructure. Already the government has collected recommendations on the facilities and capability registry. This will go a long way in helping us utilise and optimise existing resources. Also such an open platform will push for a growth in the start-up and tech ecosystem fostering innovation and collaboration. Having said that, training remains an important gap especially when it comes to community health workers and hopefully the investments in those areas will kick start soon. On the mental health system proposed, telemedicine if integrated with longitudinal records can really help address our current mental health needs. It will need integration with medication management system and patient identification number or health id to make it more effective.

The healthcare aspect of the Drone-as-a-Service will be the big impact on seamless and more efficient distribution of essential life-saving drugs”, Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran, Member, Healthcare working group, IET Future Tech Panel said.

Focussing on the impact on MSMEs, Mr. V Srinivasa Rao, Chairman - Open Digital Innovation, IET Future Tech Panel and Chairman & MD, BT & BT says, “The integration of Udyog Aadhaar Registration, e-Shram, National Career Service, ASEEM,  Skill Management Information System become a catalyst for MSME growth. The seamless integration of MSMEs with the databases of a Skilled workforce, an unorganized workforce with necessary training support would help MSMEs significantly. Drone Shakti would certainly accelerate India’s Drone Innovations with domestic manufacturing and create a lot of employment for both skilled and unskilled workforce. Specifically, Drone Shakti would make a great Drone Components Supplier Ecosystem in India.  Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) and Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) would provide some breathing time to MSMEs to bounce back from the impact of the Pandemic.”

Another sector poised for growth is logistics, with industry leaders hailing the boost in infrastructure as a definitive step towards improving competitiveness on a global level, improving ease of doing business and organising the sector. “The 7-engined PM Gati Shakti initiative is a significant investment in physical infrastructure across the country - and coupled with a robust digital data exchange platform, it will truly transform logistics, connecting rural & urban markets seamlessly", says Mr. Madan Padaki, Chair - Rural Mobility, IET Future of Mobility and Transport Focus

Highlighting the budget’s focus on urban planning and improving the standard of living in urban areas, Mr.Ajay Gupta, Chair- Smart Cities Working Group, IET Future Tech Panel; Partner and Head Digital  & Technology, Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare,  KPMG India says, “The budget clearly reiterates that India is preparing itself well to deal with rapid urbanization which will result into 50% of the population living in cities by 2047.  Reimagining cities  as sectors for sustainable living will give a huge boost to urban development. Setting up a high-level committee of urban planners, urban economists and institutions to make recommendations on policies on urban sector and also 5 centers of excellence on urban planning  proposed will benefit significantly in shaping the future cities of India.”

Technology, standards and use-cases need to co-evolve - especially in markets like India to demonstrate ROI and thereby adoption. The IET’s Future of Technology panel focuses on giving people a neutral place beyond the borders of organisations to come together and create the roadmap for technology adoption and implementation.

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