While presenting the Union Budget 2024-25, Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs has proposed the development of DPI applications by private sector at a population scale, especially in the areas of credit, e-commerce, education, health, law and justice, logistics, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), service delivery, and urban governance. The aim is to generate productivity gains, business opportunities, and innovation.
It has also been proposed to increase the basic customs duty (BCD) on printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) on specified telecom equipment from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. The move is aimed at providing a big boost to domestic telecom manufacturing industry.
Meanwhile, a reduction in BCD from 20 per cent to 15 per cent has been proposed on electronic items including mobile phones, mobile PCBA, and mobile chargers.
The Minister has also proposed setting up a venture capital fund of Rs 10 billion for expanding the space economy by five times in the next ten years. The announcement is in line with the government’s commitment to advance the Indian space sector, which gained momentum since the successful Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1 missions in 2023. The proposed VC fund will provide the necessary financial resources to foster innovation and expansion in the sector.
The government had earlier stated that it aims to increase India’s share in the global space economy five-fold by 2030, reaching 10 per cent from the current 2 per cent. By 2047, the target is to achieve a 15 per cent share in the global space economy.
