MeitY's Focus On Doubling Electronic Production, Implementing Data Policy Framework: Vaishnaw
Earlier this week, Vaishnaw took charge of the MeitY, alongside retaining the Ministry of Railways, and also getting the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
Doubling the country's domestic electronic production, alongside implementing the country's data protection framework are among the top priorities for Ashwini Vaishnaw, as the minister commences his second term at the helm of the electronics and IT ministry.
"In this term, or the next five years, we should be easily doubling it, about 50 lakh in terms of employment number, and $250-300 billion as total production value. I think we should be taking a more aggressive target," Vaishnaw said on Saturday, at a briefing with reporters in New Delhi.
India's electronics production stands at roughly $125-130 billion, with employment numbers ranging between 20 lakh and 25 lakh.
"The approach is to first become self-reliant, and then start export-oriented manufacturing. In mobile phones, we're already transitioning to become an export hub. In case of laptop and servers, we are in the process of becoming self-reliant and most companies that were granted permission under PLI schemes have started production," he said.
For chips, too, Vaishnaw said the approach remains the same.
Earlier this week, Vaishnaw took charge of the MeitY, alongside retaining the Ministry of Railways, and also getting the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which was previously held by Anurag Thakur.
In terms of the new digital regulatory framework, Vaishnaw said the structure of regulations coming in—the trifecta of the Telecom Bill, the draft Digital India Bill and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023—remains intact.
The DPDP Act was notified in August last year, and aims to protect privacy of Indian citizens, with penalties of up to Rs 250 crore on entities failing to prevent data breaches or misuse of users' data. The Act was notified last year, but rules under the law are yet to be finalised.
"There is good continuity. In terms of deepfakes, in the recent past, we have seen the destructive power of artificial intelligence. So, should we recalibrate our strategy? That question needs to be asked," he said.
Vaishnaw added that the drafting of DPDP rules is in "very advanced stages" and extensive industry consultations are slated soon.
The government is working on introducing a “digital by design” platform, to be developed jointly by the Digital India Corp. and National Informatics Centre, for facilitating the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, he said.
