Digital India takes the center stage: Union Budget 2017-18

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, on Wednesday, presented the fourth annual Union Budget for 2017-18 in Lok Sabha. The budget focused on the tax administration, IT implementation, rural population, farming sector, health care, infrastructure and few other sectors. However, a common theme behind the Union budget’s highlight was digitization of sectors in one way or another. Arun Jaitley made several references of using data mining to improve the efficiency of various departments with regards to transforming India from a cash driven to a digital economy using new measures such as Aadhaar Pay.

"Aadhaar based merchant payment mechanism, AadharPay will transform digital payments to next level and this is a great boost to all digital enterprises and startups and with cashback benefits announced on Bhim app which has been downloaded by over 125 lakhs, could very well mark the beginning of the end of private payment wallets." says Anuraag Saboo, co-founder & CEO, Gumption Labs.

It’s a good Union budget overall and an extremely positive one for the digital industry. The budget also promoted digital infrastructure to support cashless transactions in rural and semi urban areas will encourage more merchants and consumers to transact on non-cash and online platforms. The strong focus on promoting a digital economy through various initiatives on the digital payments front is a step in the right direction which will have a relevant impact in making a positive impact on national growth and development.

Bipin Preet Singh, Founder & CEO, MobiKwik says, “Big digital push is the thrust of the Budget and is a very welcome and the right move for the future growth of the economy. I commend this progressive budget that invests heavily in technology and digitization. The focus on digital payments will lead to revolutionary transformation in Indians' payment habits. Digital payments will be the new normal in 2017 and we are very excited about this. As we become more digital, India will see new tax payers and better transparency in incomes.