By Shikhar Aggarwal, Chairman, BLS E-Services
India is growing exponentially with the economy expanding 105% in the last decade to USD 4.3 Trillion and its digital economy is expected to grow at twice as fast to contribute to nearly one-fifth of its GDP by 2030. This is a defining moment for advancement of not only technological innovations but also for Financial Inclusion. India’s economic upsurge is being fuelled by participation of its 1.4 billion population and the Digital India initiative, that has transformed this nation into a global market. That is why the most powerful countries including the USA, China and Japan are trying to become partners in our trade and digital eco-system.
India has emerged as a critical hub for digital interconnection, data creation and exchange not only in South Asia but also at the global level. Under the Digital India programme, the government is attracting corporates for Cloud based AI services to democratise access to essential AI infrastructure and ensure global competitiveness. India proudly hosts 55% of the world’s Global Capability Centres (GCC). This measure will lead to development of innovative and scalable digital technologies to improve digital infrastructure resilience.
What is Digital India?
Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in 2015. This campaign is to ensure top class online infrastructure and high speed internet connectivity. Digital India campaign targets the rural villages with high speed internet networks. It comprises of three important components: 1. Universal digital literacy, 2. Strong digital infrastructure, and 3. Digital delivery of government services (like Direct Benefit Transfer).
Young population key to adopt Digital technology:
India has large young population which is keen to adopt the new technology. The government is increasing the mobile internet penetration and the successful implementation of digital public infrastructure like UPI and Aadhaar has transformed the digital economy. At this speed, India seems to be in the race to compete with the USA and China in Artificial Intelligence (AI) domain. As on today, India stands at 16th place in AI infrastructure.
Union government’s initiatives:
The Union Budget 2025 provides clear blueprint to accelerate the digitalisation process across the country. The government has proposed DeepTech Fund and 10,000 fellowships for technological research in IITs and IISCs so that our youth are familiar with emerging technologies. For the tier II cities, the government is planning to set up Global Capability Centres (GCCs) to enhance the capacity of regional talent pool in the area of AI-powered digital services. This will provide employment opportunity to youth beyond the metros. Skilling holds the key for digital transformation and the government has proposed investment in 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs, a 500 crore Centre of Excellence for AI in Education and five National Centers of Excellence for skilling. All these efforts will help train the Indian youth in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cloud and automation skills.
The government is keen to enhance digital resilience. The government is investing in robust digital infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted communication in India and also to support the global digital initiatives. There is need for skilling the youth for Data storage, machine learning and computational capacities for creating huge workforce in India also for global Artificial Intelligence advancements.
Mobile phone has accelerated Financial Inclusion drive:
The mobile phone has brought revolutionary change in the financial sector. The mobile enabled digital devices have enhanced cashless transactions and online purchase of electronics and grocery items. India has surpassed UK, Germany and Japan in terms of digitalisation. The village folk are bearing the fruits of the financial inclusion they are getting several financial services at their door step or in a single click of a button near them by visiting a CSP centre near them. Digital health services have also reached to the regional rural areas of the country.
Aadhaar enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme has brought transparency and accountability in public service delivery. This has made Government’s DBT scheme a big game changer to enhance the digital economy. Aadhaar linked DBT has further led to financial inclusion at the grass root level and ensured beneficiary identification. This Aadhaar linked DBT ensures efficiency gains in scheme delivery and real-time governance. This has transformed the entire cash oriented system to online banking system with high efficiency level as the cash transferred is reaching directly into beneficiary’s account.
This country is growing in several areas including domestic digital platforms, small and medium industry, foreign direct investment, and phenomenal growth of the IT sector. The start-ups are becoming unicorns and small-scale businesses are turning into medium enterprises. Here is the need to make India digitally inclusive society and enhance digital literacy. But this exercise requires government- private partnership in order to make it a successful digital literacy programme.
Digital accessibility and digital literacy holds the key to transform this nation into a modern world.
Digital inclusion is the emerging trend in our country. The concept of digital inclusion is defined as an equitable, meaningful and safe access to use, lead and design of digital technologies, services, and associated opportunities for everyone, everywhere.
Digital accessibility is the extent to which digital devices and ecosystem are available to provide level playing field to everyone. Digital literacy is the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate and create information safely and appropriately through digital technology.
Scaling up the Digital India mission will enhance Financial Inclusion:
India is fast advancing in the field of AI, Blockchain, 5G and these technologies will transform the digital growth of this country. As the government initiative picks the pace, governance will be inclusive for the society. All these measures will lead to digital transformation and will propel India to reach the Top-3 economies in the world.
The writer is Chairman, BLS E-Services.
