Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today unveiled the latest budget of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. In his speech, the minister said that "the government's vision for Amrit Kaal includes technology and the economy of knowledge, with strong public funding and a strong financial sector."

Here are all the technology-related announcements made by the minister during her budget speech

For business entities that want to have a permanent account number (PAN), the PAN will be used as an identifier for the government-specific digital system. This will bring ease of doing business; and must be supported by legal authority

Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture

Digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built into an open, open standards and interoperable community. This will enable integrated solutions for farmers to work through information services necessary for crop management and health, access to agricultural inputs, credit and insurance, crop planning assistance, market intelligence and support for agri-tech industry development and startups.

Digital payments

Digital payments are widely accepted. In 2022, they showed a 76% increase in business and 91% in profit. Funding for digital public infrastructure will continue in 2023-24.

Fintech services

Our digital social infrastructure including Aadhaar, PM Jan Dhan Yojana, Video KYC, India Stack and UPI support Fintech projects in India. In order to facilitate the innovation of Fintech services, DigiLocker will be expanded to include documents for individuals.

DigiLocker app

DigiLocker will be designed for MSMEs, large enterprises and charitable trusts. This will include storing and sharing documents online without problems, whenever needed, with various authorities, regulators, banks and other commercial institutions.

5G services

About 100 application development labs using 5G services will be established in the engineering industry to access new opportunities, business models and service capabilities. The labs will cover, among others, applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and health care applications.

Lab Grown Diamonds

LGD is an emerging technology in the innovation sector with strong operational potential. These eco-friendly diamonds have the same physical and chemical properties as natural diamonds. To promote indigenous production of LGD seeds and machinery and reduce dependence on imports, one of the IITs will be awarded a research and development grant for five years.

Green Hydrogen Mission

The recently launched National Green Hydrogen Mission, with an expenditure of 19,700 crores, will facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon emissions, reduce dependence on imported fuel and ensure that the country adopts the technology and market leader in this growing area. Our goal is to reach an annual production of 5 MMT by 2030.

Data center

For countries looking for progressive digital solutions, we will make it easy to set up data embassies at GIFT IFSC.

GIFT IFSC

To enhance business activities in GIFT IFSC, the following measures will be taken:

Delegating powers under the SEZ Act to IFSCA to avoid dual regulation, Setting up a single window IT system for registration and approval from IFSCA, SEZ authorities, GSTN, RBI, SEBI and IRDAI.

National Digital Library for Children and Teens

A national digital library for children and adolescents will be set up to facilitate access to quality books across geographies, languages, genres and grades, as well as device-independent access. States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries for them at panchayat and ward levels and provide facilities to access the facilities of the National Digital Library.

Bharat Registration Repository (Bharat SHRI)

The "Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions" will be maintained in a digital museum, with the digitization of one lakh ancient inscriptions initially.

Skill India digital platform

The digital ecosystem for skills will be expanded with the launch of a Skill India Digital platform to enable skills to dominate, connect with employers, including MSMEs, and facilitate access to entrepreneurship programs.

A multidisciplinary course for medical devices

A multidisciplinary course dedicated to medical devices will be supported in the current industry to ensure the availability of skilled workers for future medical technology, manufacturing and advanced research.