The recent elections marked an important moment for India. Over the course of several weeks, the world’s largest democracy with nearly 640 million voters endured unbearable heat and long lines to make their views known. After nearly a decade of robust single-party majority government, India now enters an era of coalition politics. This could be a game-changer for bringing the next few million citizens onto the growth path as India seeks to strengthen its digital leadership and advance its goal of being the world’s third largest economy.
Given that India’s ruling party, the BJP, has retained several key ministers, we can expect some continuity of policies – with populist tweaks to suit the overall mood of the electorate. In particular, Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw returns to the IT Ministry, where he is expected to continue to push for India to develop into a true manufacturing hub for electronics. Broadly, the new government structure is expected to lead to more bipartisan support on issues of national importance, as well as lengthier discussions on crucial bills and policy considerations, which may have been absent in the past. Further, state-specific regional parties are likely to play a key role in the new government, generating a healthy competition among them to attract investments. This could lead to more opportunities for foreign firms, as states will try to lure investments with more attractive incentives. This could possibly create a more generous environment for foreign firms. However, multinational companies may still experience pressure for not taking advantage of tax cuts or other benefits.
Robust debate, and an environment primed for a diverse set of perspectives, creates an opportunity for more engagement by a range of stakeholders on the future of a technology policy framework for India.
Given there are several pending bills and regulations that require the incoming government’s immediate attention, the technology industry stands ready to work with new and returning policymakers to ensure India supports anagile and globally harmonized approach towards regulation. This is crucial to advancing innovation and growth for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in India and worldwide. We as an industry are keen to collaborate on next steps on key tech policies like the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, the Telecommunications Act 2023 rules and the next phase of performance-linked incentives for smartphones and their components. Further, as several novel regulations under Emerging Technologies have evolved globally, it’s critical that the new government take these changes into consideration as it reviews those measures.
We are hopeful that the able leadership of the National Democratic Alliance government and its reforms-oriented approach will enable greater market access and investment and propel India towards meeting its economic ambitions. The technology industry looks forward to our ongoing partnership with the new and returning policymakers.