India has come of age in the digital arena, Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that India had come of age in the digital arena. He was addressing the valedictory session of the India Digital Summit in New Delhi today.

The Minister opined that technology would be the differentiating factor that would transform India into a developed nation. He said that the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi had always focussed on staying ahead of the technology curve, inspired by the strong belief that technology would be the factor that would drive growth and prosperity in the nation.

The Minister pointed out that India’s services export, largely driven by IT, had grown by 20% between 2021 and 22. It is a manifestation of India’s strength in the digital arena, he said. Shri Goyal opined that IT industry would eventually overtake merchandise export with a convergence of the two happening by 2030 with the achievement of USD 1 trillion worth of merchandise and services export. He opined that the success of India’s IT industry has largely been because of low government interference. The government played the role of an enabler and a hand holder to the IT industry, he said.

Shri Goyal said that this growth in exports, when juxtaposed with startup India and digital India would provide a complete picture of India’s true potential for growth in the digital sector. He noted that the early launch of the Digital India Mission in 2015 had paved the way for the rapid technological change that is being witnessed today in India. He said that the desire to achieve extraordinary results has been driving India’s digital future.

The Minister underscored that today India is relatively in a better position in terms of internet connectivity as compared to many of the developed nations. He said that government had succeeded in bringing about the rapid spread of broadband, optical fibre and 4G services to the remotest part of the country. He highlighted that 5G, which was rolled out in India in October was expected to cover over 100 cities by the end of the year.

Shri Goyal noted that the Indian Startup ecosystem had been addressing the challenges of human existence, making life easier for the common man. The biggest strength of Indian Startups is the perpetual desire to achieve more and the sheer enthusiasm, he said. He added that every country today wants to invest in India because of our Startups because of their capabilities. The Government’s role has been in building the credibility and trust in India, he said and added that the Prime Minister had succeeded in ensuring that Indian passports carried huge value across the globe today.

The Minister said that the delta of growth that India offers the future is more than any other country in the world. ‘Given our strong foundational policy framework we’ve had in the last few years, that we are considered a trusted partner globally, the fact that we have a decisive leadership, we have an outstanding talent pool, a huge diaspora, India has a huge opportunity to excel, he added.

Shri Goyal pointed out that the way India worked and thought had changed. He said that quality consciousness is today an important factor which is in itself a huge mindset change. ‘If quality becomes the mantra of this nation coupled with sustainability, we can completely transform our country. ‘Zero effect & Zero defect’ should be the calling card for industry today. I find the country today is willing to accept quality. Our government has laid down strict quality parameters across various industries’, he added.

The Minister said that today 1.4 billion Indians are connected with the internet. He added that initiatives like Digital India, UPI, ONDC, & Startup India all together are creating the perfect foundation for the developed India 2047.

Shri Goyal asked Indian industry to take advantage of significant changes that are happening in the fields of technology, supply chain and energy. He said that this Amritkaal would be an era of digital transformation with significant changes in the energy world for sustainable development. He stressed that resilient supply chains would determine the future world order.

CT Bureau