In addition, Vaishnaw was given additional responsibility for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and retained the Railway Ministry.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw continues to hold his portfolio in electronics and IT, where he has authored success stories in the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industries and led the charge to establish the vital Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
In addition, Vaishnaw was given additional responsibility for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and retained the Railway Ministry.
The politician, who was formerly a bureaucrat at IIT Kanpur, had a busy schedule during his time in the Modi 2.0 administration. Building on this success will be essential to ensuring that India’s IT and electronic industries become “Atmanirbhar,” or self-sufficient.
During Vaishnaw’s tenure, the manufacturing of mobile phones surpassed the Rs 4.1 lakh crore milestone, a 21-fold increase in production over 2014–15, when imports satisfied 98% of local demand. Currently, 97% of the nation’s mobile phone demand is met locally.
Vaishnaw has a number of unresolved concerns, including developing the regulations needed to execute the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and shaping the proposed Digital India Act, which will replace the IT Act that was passed more than 20 years ago.
After the Supreme Court ruled that the “right to privacy” is a fundamental right six years prior, Parliament enacted the DPDP Act in August of last year. It contains rules that aim to prevent internet platforms from abusing people’s personal data.
An autonomous Data Protection Board (DPB) will be established under the DPDP Act, giving citizens all throughout the nation comparable access to justice.
The Digital India draft legislation, which would establish guidelines and regulatory procedures for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, has been under development by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity).
Vaishnaw has played a pivotal role in persuading multinational semiconductor company Micron to establish a chip assembly plant. This was followed by two investments from the domestic conglomerate Tata, which established an assembly unit in Assam and a chip manufacturing plant in Gujarat.
In collaboration with Renesas Electronics Corp. and Stars Microelectronics, CG Power established a fourth facility in Gujarat.
Although the nation’s semiconductor manufacturing journey is still in its early stages, Vaishnaw faces a difficult challenge in making sure that India’s aims for chip manufacturing also feed its ambitions in artificial intelligence (AI), a market now dominated by the US and China.
The Modi 2.0 government has approved an allocation of more than Rs 10,300 crore for the IndiaAI Mission, which aims to strengthen India’s AI ecosystem, before the country’s general elections in 2024.
The IndiaAI Mission’s key initiatives, such as the IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC), IndiaAI Datasets Platform, IndiaAI Application Development Initiative, IndiaAI FutureSkills, IndiaAI Startup Financing, and Safe & Trusted AI, are expected to be accelerated by the approved significant financial infusion, which is scheduled to take place over the next five years.
Industry observers were hoping that Vaishnaw’s retention of this important ministry would keep the policy momentum moving forward.
“The industry is extremely satisfied with the Hon’ble PM’s decision to continue key portfolios with existing ministers. The ‘continuity’ in policymaking, governance approach, and key priorities across the Finance, Commerce, Meity, and Environment ministries is critical to investor confidence and growth,” ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said.
According to him, the sector is ready for the five-year sprint until 2030 that will see India become a global center for the production of electronics and “Viksit Bharat,” or developed India.
Also read: Unveiling the Ethical Imperatives: Navigating the Intersection of AI and Cybersecurity
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