Budget 2023: Why government should put technology at forefront of India's growth story

Despite global headwinds, the Indian IT sector has witnessed consistent growth. The rapid digital transformation and fast-paced technology adoption across sectors place us well to become a $5 trillion economy soon. This resilience in the face of adversity, combined with our immense potential, makes us stand out today in the global marketplace. Indian businesses are well-positioned to withstand the turbulent times we live in. This is particularly true of technology businesses, as well as businesses that can unlock the potential of technologically-enabled commercial opportunities. The Cloud is a key part of this great Indian technology story. It has played a significant role in the country’s growth by serving as a crucial facilitator of data-backed businesses. The ability to effectively leverage Cloud-native technologies to reach new customers and develop innovative new products has now become a key driver for business success. Cloud and data technologies are increasingly becoming essential to the standard operating procedures of most businesses. According to Gartner, public cloud spending in India will grow by 27 percent YoY this year. Taking all these factors into account, we have high expectations from the upcoming Union Budget 2023, especially when it comes to measures that can impact the technology-driven sectors. Need for a tech-focused Budget In recent years, there has been an overall positive attitude towards digital transformation and technological progress across industries and the government. The widespread support and enthusiasm for initiatives like Digital India stand testament to this. But while the environment is certainly conducive, there is a lot more headway that needs to be made in order to realize India’s ‘$5 trillion economy’ vision. It will be good to see the Union Budget focus on reducing inflationary pressures, given the current economic scenario. However, there are initiatives that can be taken to aid the country’s development goals and enable more citizens to truly benefit from the power of digital technologies. An emphasis on deep tech–including Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, and quantum computing, will pay rich dividends across sectors. Another significant contributor to growth will be further incentivising the use of cloud services. India is already one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, and will undoubtedly grow to become the centre of the world’s digital capabilities in the near future. There are three factors that if focused on, would bring us significantly closer to achieving that objective: Accelerating spending on digital infrastructure Ernst & Young, in collaboration with the Digital Infrastructure Providers’ Association (DIPA), recently released a joint report. One of its key findings is that investments in the range of $17-23 billion are needed in the space of digital infrastructure, to support the ever-increasing demand for digital services and growth in online traffic. Investment in this area will have a powerful multiplier effect on the digital economy. Enhancing R&D investment India’s expenditure in Research & Development (R&D) is one of the lowest in the world, standing at just $43 per capita, according to Niti Aayog. This is significantly lower than the R&D expenditure of our BRICS and ASEAN counterparts like Russia, Brazil, and Malaysia. The R&D investment should be significantly enhanced to truly benefit from our tremendous engineering talent and drive innovation across sectors. This can be accomplished by increased government spending on R&D as well as by providing incentives for greater private sector contributions to the same. Increased emphasis on sustainability India is already on the road to achieving net zero emission targets by 2070. The new Budget is expected to put a spotlight on sustainability, with the issuance of ‘Green Bonds’ to fund certain environmentally sustainable and climate-suitable projects. Greater focus on green technologies, including clean energy and clean mobility, will be critical not just from an economic perspective, but also to support the national, and indeed global, efforts to combat climate change. The way forward To meet the needs of the current technology-driven environment, as well as achieve results in the three focus areas, upskilling talent will be mission-critical. The government’s Skill India program has already enabled the nation to make great strides toward this. It would be good if the upcoming Budget furthers this positive trend with more investments and programs in upskilling. This will bring us closer to achieving our collective Digital India dream faster. The writer is Vice President & Managing Director India/SAARC of NetApp, a global Cloud-led, data-centric software company. He tweets @puneetgupta9999 @NetAppIndia. Views expressed are personal Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.