The Budget 2022 presented by our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was aligned with the nation’s vision of Digital India. The major initiatives presented in this budget marking a step further towards the achievement of Digital India included the following:
Big Boost for Digital India
| Top 10 Digital & Tech Announcements |
Rise of 5G |  | Spectrum auctions for private telecom providers to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services will be held in 2022. | | Rs. 29,432 Crores will be allotted for the rollout of 5G mobile services. | | As part of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme, a scheme for Design-led Manufacturing will be launched to enable building a strong ecosystem for 5G rollout. | | This will help in the achievement of the objective of providing access to communication facilities, digital resources, and e-services to all the villages and their resident |
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The emergence of Kisan Drones | | To develop the agricultural sector, the use of Kisan Drones as a part of Agri-tech will be promoted. | | It will be useful for: |
| Crop assessments |
| Digitising land records |
| Spraying insecticides & nutrients |
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Data and energy centres | | Inclusion of Data Centres and Energy Storage Systems including grid scale battery systems and dense charging infrastructure in the harmonised list of infrastructure.
| | This will facilitate the availability of credit for clean energy storage and digital infrastructure. |
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Broadband & Mobile Internet in rural areas. | | 5% of annual collections under the Universal Service Obligation Fund shall be allocated to enable affordable broadband | | Under the Bharatnet Project, the contract for laying optical fibres in all the villages will be awarded through PPP in 2022-23 while the completion is expected in 2025. | | BharatNet will bring broadband services to 3.61 lakh villages spread across 16 states. | | Wi-fi hotspots will be installed at 1.04 lakh Gram Panchayats. |
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Establishing Digital Universities | | As part of the skill development initiative, the DESH-Stack e-portal will be launched. | | The portal will enable the citizens to skill, reskill and upskill based on online training. | | Introduction of DrAAS i.e., ‘Drone-As-A-Service’ where startups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through varied applications. | | Under PM eVIDYA, the ‘one class one TV Channel’ programme will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all the states to provide supplementary education for classes 1-12 in regional languages. | | 750 virtual labs in mathematics and science along with 75 skilling e-labs will be set up for a simulated learning environment and to promote critical thinking skills. | | With the hub building's cutting-edge ICT expertise, a hub-spoke model will be used to build this university. |
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Digital Banking and transformation | | 75 Domestic Banking Units (DBUs) will be set up in 75 districts of the country by Scheduled Commercial Banks. Marking the 75 years of our independence, this is to ensure that the benefits of digital banking reach every nook and corner of the country. | | 100% of the 1.5 lakh post offices will come into the core banking systems. This will enable the following tasks: |
|  Access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATMs |
| Online transfer of funds between bank accounts and post office accounts. | | It will especially benefit the senior citizens and farmers in the rural areas. It will enable financial inclusion and interoperability. |
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Digital Rupee | | Digital Rupee will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India using blockchain and other technologies. | | Being a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), it will give a big boost to the Indian economy and will enable a cheaper and more efficient currency management system. |
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E-Passports | | E-passports will be rolled out in 2022-23 with embedded chips and futuristic technology. | | It will enable easy immigration and enhance convenience to the citizens in their overseas travel. |
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National Digital Health ecosystem | | Under the 'Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission', an open platform will be launched for the National Digital Health Ecosystem. | | It will include a unique health identity, consent framework, digital registries of health facilities and health providers, and universal access to health facilities. | | The National Tele Mental Health Programme will be launched to enhance access to quality mental health counselling and care services. | | This was the need of the hour after people started realising the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health and well-being of the people. | | A network of 23 tele mental health centres of excellence will be included in the programme. | | NIMHANS will be the nodal centre for this programme while the technology support will be provided by the International Institute of Information Technology – Bangalore (IIITB). |
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Set up AVGC Task Force
(Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) | | AVGC promotion task force will be set up to lift domestic capacity to meet the domestic as well as global demand. | | India will be playing a larger role in building the Metaverse. | | The AVGC sector has the immense potential to provide increased job opportunities for the youth. |
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In A Nutshell
India is evolving from the old traditional methods of operating and is moving fast in its journey of becoming a global leader in technology in this era of digitization. The startups are playing a key role in integrating technology with our everyday life, making our life easier for the better. This is in line with the support to the new age fields like gaming, animations, etc. that earlier had a limited scope. With government support, these sunrise fields will share a significant contribution to the overall development and economic prosperity of our nation.
