New Digital Public Infrastructure For Agriculture to be Declared as an Open Source Initiative
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during the presentation of the Union Budget 2023 on Wednesday that digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be established as an open source, open standard, and interoperable public group.
According to her, this will enable inclusive farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services of planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit and insurance assistance for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of the agritech industry and startups.
Yesterday, while presenting the Economic Survey 2022-23, chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran stated that India's digital public infrastructure (DPI) can add around 0.6-1.0 percentage point to the country's potential GDP growth rate and that there is a lot of justified optimism surrounding it.
The survey focused heavily on defining the role of digital public goods.
According to the survey, platforms such as the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and the Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) will open avenues for ecommerce market access and credit availability for small businesses in the coming months, strengthening the expected economic growth in the medium term.
According to Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran's report, the use of such DPI has improved citizens' quality of life by ensuring the reach of social sector schemes to intended beneficiaries, particularly during the pandemic.
Successful vaccination drives via the one-stop Co-WIN portal, DigiLocker, and Goods and Services Tax (GST) Sahay are just a few of the many success stories.
The platforms will democratise digital payments while also enabling interoperability and lowering transaction costs. This has the potential to change the way businesses and consumers interact today.
According to Nageswaran, who presented the Economic Survey of 2023, India's DPI can add 60-100 basis points (BPS) to the country's potential GDP growth rate, and there is a lot of justified optimism surrounding it.
“There is lots of justified optimism about India’s digital public infrastructure. The digital infrastructure can help the hitherto excluded sections get a fair shot at accessing national and international markets,” he said.
The Economic Survey added that the suite of digital public infrastructure products such as e-RUPI, E-Way Bill, and TReDS for MSMEs have provided real value to consumers while reducing the compliance burden for producers.
When Aadhaar was first introduced in India in 2009, DPI was introduced. According to the Economic Survey, the emergence of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) aimed at improving financial literacy, innovation, entrepreneurship, job creation, and beneficiary empowerment has played a critical role in boosting the economy.
UPI recently reached its highest-ever level in December 2022, with 782 crore transactions worth 12.8 lakh crore. UPI accounted for 52% of the total 8,840 crore financial digital transactions in FY22.