Bengaluru: The Union Budget presentation on Thursday, for the first time, featured deep-tech terms like machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, Internet of things, quantum communication, etc.
Industry observers say it indicates the government’s political push towards making India a digital economy.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget presentation said these are the technologies of the future and Niti Aayog would establish a national programme to conduct research and development in these emerging areas.
Financial Chronicle spoke to captains of the industry to gather their views on the digital readiness of the government.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former MD and CEO of Infosys said, “The government’s focus on emerging tech areas will help create a comprehensive digital ecosystem in the country and thereby benefiting people across the length and breadth of the country in terms of lastmile, broadband access.”
V. Ramakrishnan, CFO at TCS, said, “Several programmes announced in the Budget represent big strides in building a Digital India: the outlay for the smart cities initiative; the plans to explore blockchain technology; the national program for adoption of artificial intelligence and for research, training and skilling in cyber-physical systems; the innovative use of technology to digitally reimagine agricultural markets to empower small and marginal farmers; and the extending of broadband access to 5 crore rural citizens to bridge the digital divide.
“We welcome the government’s thrust on encouraging R&D pursuits in the areas of AI, machine learning, robotics and edge analytics,’’ said L&T Technology Services, CEO & MD, Keshab Panda.
