Industry lauds Digital India initiative with suggestions

NEW DELHI: Digital India initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today has the potential to catalyse the investment process in the technology sector and generate employment, industry said.

Industry chamber FICCI termed launch of Digital India week programme as an important milestone to engage with renewed energy to transform India's digital infrastructure for the next generation users and the unconnected.

"As the entire world is looking at India, it makes practical sense to launch such a grand programme which has the potential to catalyse the investment process in this high technology sector and simultaneously generate employment," FICCI President Jyotsna Suri said.

Top CEOs from India and abroad today committed to investing Rs 4.5 lakh crore for the Modi government's ambitious 'Digital India' campaign to provide telephony and fast internet for all, with more than half of the promised investments announced by Mukesh Ambani alone.

Electronics industry body IESA said that the programme is a colossal project even on a global scale, delivering services digitally to every one of 1.2 billion citizens in the country and that "inclusion" is an integral part of the programme.

Leading companies Bharti Airtel, Aditya Birla group, Sterlite Technologies, Nidec Corporation and Delta Electronics also announced to invest in manufacturing.

"What stop us from making electronic goods in India? We invite our industry leaders to come forward and start manufacturing. While new investments into electronics manufacturing is welcome, government should encourage existing IT Hardware manufacturers," MAIT Vice President Nitin Kunkolienker said.

Government has also expressed concern on less number of skills available to take benefit of employment that will be created under Digital India initiative.

NIIT CEO Rahul Patwardhan said digital infrastructure being setup under Digital India will support Skill India by enabling mass scaling of skill development, using technology as a mass delivery mechanism.

Ernst and Young Global Telecommunications leader Prashant Singhal said knowledge, e-services and connectivity are a must for developing 'India of future'.

IT company NetApp said that Digital India is one of the most significant transformations the country will witness by eventually connecting over a hundred crore people of India, with technology as its focal point.

"Digital India's success would also be a function of the underlying technology infrastructure with data becoming the nucleus of this thrust," NetApp India & SAARC President Anil Valluri said.