ET Startup Awards 2022: India shouldn’t isolate itself by restricting data flow: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India plays an important role in the global digital data processing ecosystem and should take advantage of this strength by not isolating itself with provisions that restrict cross-border data flow, IT and electronics minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

“A digital economy does not have a customs border, right? It is an economy which takes place seamlessly globally. In this economy, we are a very important player in the whole digital global landscape,” the minister said. “We should try and take advantage of this strength and we should not try to isolate ourselves.”

Vaishnaw, who is also the union minister for communications and railways, was responding to a question from the audience during the ET Startup Awards 2022 event in Bengaluru on Saturday.


On Friday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released a new draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill for public consultation and feedback. One of the major aspects of the proposed Bill, which is likely to be a relief for several big tech companies, is the government changing its stance on cross-border flow of data.

As per the new draft, digital data of Indian users can be stored in “trusted jurisdictions”, which will be defined from time to time by the government. According to the previous draft, the data had to be compulsorily stored in India.

“The entire world’s eyes are on us as a trusted partner. To be offered as a trusted partner, we will also have to call others as our trusted partner. We are moving towards integration with the world in a very fair and transparent manner,” Vaishnaw said.

The new draft of the Bill, which now contains only 30 clauses compared with the 99 in earlier versions, also mandates that users be informed of the purpose of data collection and of the agencies that would get access to the information, in a "plain and simple language", including in regional languages. Users will also have the right to withdraw consent and seek erasure or correction of personal data.

ET was the first to report on the provisions in the new draft data Bill in its edition dated November 16.

REMOVING OBSTACLES
During his address at the ET Startup Awards on Saturday, Vaishnaw also said the government would approve at least two semiconductor fabrication proposals by January 2023. The approvals would pave the way for the manufacture of microchips in India, a significant move forward under the government’s $10 billion programme to seed a semiconductor ecosystem in the country, he said.

From releasing the incentives as soon as possible to ensuring the construction of the semiconductor units on time, the government is committed to “removing all obstacles”, whether they are present in government systems, markets or the risk profile of the applicants, the union minister said.

In February this year, the Centre had announced that it had received proposals worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore to set up semiconductor fabrication and display panel units.

Under the semiconductor scheme, the central government had in December 2021 announced it would provide incentives up to 50% of the cost of the project proposed by applicants. In September this year, it broad-based the incentive structure to make it a flat 50% fiscal support across formats and nodes, including assembly and packaging factories.

5G ROLLOUT
Vaishnaw, who is also the minister for communications, said there would be “very good coverage” of 5G all across the country by next Diwali.

“Today we are doing about 2,500 (5G) towers a week, and hopefully by January onwards we will be doing about 10,000 towers a week and by Diwali, we should see very good coverage of 5G in the country,” Vaishnaw said.

India, he said, was emerging as a “stable ship” at a time when the global economy was going through many uncertainties.

“In a world which is so turbulent, we have been a steady ship. If you look at any parameters … bank credit growth was 13% in June and now as you see the latest numbers, it is almost 17%. This is a very significant indicator of the investment, capex cycle which has started in the private sector,” the minister said.

India was also building railways for the “aspirational generations” with user experience being the guiding principle, he said, adding that railway stations were being reimagined as city centres or cultural and commercial hubs, creating new urban spaces for the cities they serve.

The culture and heritage of the place are interwoven in the design of railway stations, he said.