Budget 2023: Indian Unicorns Seek Digital Infra Strengthening Thus far, the government has undertaken many an initiative to bolster digitalization in the country, including the launch of Digital Rupee, DigiLocker, CoWIN and UPI, to name a few

With the release of the Indian Union Budget 2023-24 inching ever so close, the country's unicorn startups are calling for a more robust digital infrastructure across the board, including education, healthcare, e-commerce, fintech and many more sectors.

Following the unveiling of the Digital India programme in 2015, the government has been undertaking many an initiative to bolster digitalization in the country, including the launch of Digital Rupee (a tokenised digital version of the Indian Rupee to be issued by the RBI as a central bank digital currency), DigiLocker (a cloud document storage wallet, which can also digitally verify credentials), CoWIN (a government web portal for the COVID-19 vaccination drive) and UPI (or Unified Payments Interface, an instant real-time payment system), to name a few.

"To make the $5 trillion GDP dream a reality, doubling down on digital infrastructure is vital. Hence, the budget should be centred on digitalization initiatives that empower the medium and small enterprises (MSME) sector. The impact generated would be felt in improved urban and rural mobility as we see more ports, roads, airports and other infrastructure developing alongside. This will culminate in reducing logistics costs from roughly 13-14 per cent of the GDP to 8 per cent," said Saahil Goel, co-founder and CEO, New Delhi-based Shiprocket.

A step in the right direction, the National Logistics Policy, unveiled last year, introduced an integrated digital system (IDS) to integrate the digital data of various ministries, such as road transport, railways, customs, aviation, commerce and so on, to facilitate the smooth movement of cargo.

"I look forward to a Union Budget that will advance the Digital India mandate and further the cause of holistic education," stated Divya Gokulnath, co-founder, BYJU'S, throwing light on the Indian edtech sector's budgetary expectations. "For consumers, the introduction of new tax breaks for digital-focused education and upskilling will also help boost employability. Extending the ideas behind successful initiatives like PM e-Vidya and One Nation, One Classroom into a wider range of developmental economics will be welcomed, as will the fast-tracking of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020," she said.

Indeed, the NEP has boosted e-learning in India, especially at a time when the global pandemic rendered physical classes impossible to hold. Artificial learning, machine learning, blockchains, smart boards, hand-held computing devices and adaptive computer testing have helped online education flourish in India.

Gokulnath continued, "The finance minister in the previous budget set aside a record INR 1 trillion-plus for expenditure on education, and we hope for a continued outlay in this year's budget as well. The setting up of the National Digital University, as envisioned under NEP 2020, is a path-breaking event that can potentially enable our youth to skill, upskill and reskill without the constraints of space and time."

Sumeet Mehta, co-founder and CEO, LEAD, agrees that the use of technology is vital in teaching and learning. According to him, the NEP promotes multimodal learning, including online education, so that high quality resources are made available to all students irrespective of their location or background. "This can be enabled by increasing the penetration of digital infrastructure in schools and educational institutions. Digital tools and content in smart classrooms are key to enriching students' learning," explained Mehta.

While there were many business casualties of the pandemic, the Indian healthcare sector wasn't one of them, with the unprecedented promotion of telemedicine, e-pharmacies, wearables, e-diagnostics, remote care and QR codes in drug or API products, among others. Particularly, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), launched in September 2021, aims to create an efficient and inclusive digital healthcare ecosystem that includes medical practitioners across modern and traditional systems.

"ABDM has paved the way for the digital healthcare ecosystem, and this budget looks positive to continue contributing to its growth. By 2047, the healthcare network will be more efficiently digitized with a greater number of participants and covering nearly the whole of India," stated Dr Vaibhav Kapoor, co-founder, Pristyn Care, which turned a unicorn in December 2021.

According to him, the allocation for public healthcare might see a record increase in this year's budget as India prepares to increase its spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025. "The healthcare industry has long-standing expectations focusing on public health and affordable care at the center," added Kapoor.