Up next: Artificial intelligence for governance -Governance Now

Up next: Artificial intelligence for governance

The 2018 budget assigns Rs 3,073 crore for Digital India

Pratap Vikram Singh | February 1, 2018 | New Delhi

#digital manufacturing #telecom #Artificial Intelligence #budget #Digital India #big data

(Illustration: Ashish Asthana)

The allocation on Digital India program has been doubled to Rs 3073 crore in 2018-19, with a part of this fund likely to b spent on research and development in cyber physical systems, robotics and artificial intelligence.

“To invest in research, training and skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, big data analysis, quantum communication and internet of things, the department of science & technology will launch a ‘mission on cyber physical systems to support establishment of centres of excellence’,” said finance minister Arun Jaitley in his 2018 budget speech.

Jaitley said that NITI Aayog will initiate a national program to direct efforts in the area of artificial intelligence.

“Combining cyber and physical systems have great potential to transform not only innovation ecosystem but also our economies and the way we live,” the minister said.

For “creation and augmentation” of telecom infrastructure, the government has allocated Rs 10,000 crore. It would set up five lakh Wi-Fi hot spots to provide broadband access to five crore rural citizens.

Jaitley said that the first phase of the BharatNet project, which aims to provide high speed internet to 2.5 lakh panchayats, has already enabled broadband access to over 20 crore rural Indians, across 2.5 lakh villages.

To harness the benefit of emerging new technologies, the department of telecom will support establishment of an indigenous 5G Test Bed at IIT, Chennai.

Jaitley also announced plans to harness blockchain technology for safe digital transactions. “The distributed ledger system or the block chain technology allows organisation of any chain of records or transactions without the need of intermediaries. The government will explore use of block chain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy,” Jaitley said.

According to him, the government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender. He said the government will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system.

He said that the adoption of electronic toll collection is increasing. The number of Fastags has gone up from about 60,000 in December, 2016, to more than 10 lakh now. “From December, 2017 all class M and N vehicles are being sold only with the Fastags. The government will come out with a policy to introduce toll system on “pay as you use” basis,” he said.

On smart cities mission, the minister said that 99 cities have been selected with an outlay of Rs 2.04 lakh crore. “These cities have started implementing various projects like smart command and control centre, smart roads, solar rooftops, intelligent transport systems, smart parks. Projects worth Rs 2,350 crore have been completed and works of Rs 20,852 crore are under progress,” he said.

Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) program, the government has approved state level plans of Rs 77,640 crore for 500 cities. “Water supply contracts for 494 projects worth Rs. 19,428 crore and sewerage work contract for 272 projects costing Rs. 12, 429 crore has been awarded. 482 cities have started credit rating and 144 cities have got investment grade rating,” he said.

Comments

Other News

Uday Kotak on history, Indian economy, growth and more

Pathbreakers: How 10 Visionary Leaders Transformed India by award-winning journalists By Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu Rupa Publications, 304 pages, Rs 695

₹5,000 crore saved from suspected financial fraud

In a significant gain for citizen protection in the digital economy, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has helped prevent suspected cyber fraud losses of more than ₹5,000 crore through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) within fifteen months of its launch on May 22, 2025. This money did

Capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore for defence forces cleared

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, on Monday accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), that is, in-principle administrative approval to various acquisition proposals of the defence forces at an estimated cost of about Rs 1,10,000 crore.

How Rafi, Raj Kapoor helped pave the way for a great uranium deal

There`s a certain moment in diplomacy that`s too personal to be captured in a communiqué, too small to make the front page, but more revealing than the front page. This week, prime minister Narendra Modi reached Tashkent and, amid the pomp of state visits, managed to evoke the old Bollywood tunes

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202