Going by various economic indicators and developments in the country, the finance minister has much to attend to in the Budget this year. While numbers are important, I hope the finance minister takes this opportunity to also unveil policies that systemically address the issues that impact business and industry in India.
The Budget for 2011-12 covered little on telecom. As part of the mobile internet industry, I hope the Budget this year presents a larger emphasis on development of mobile infrastructure in the country. For a large proportion of our population, the mobile is the first and often the only device for communication and information access. The excise duty on mobile phones was increased by one percentage point in 2011. I hope the finance minister rolls back this increase, or at least doesn’t burden the industry with additional duty.
There has been much upheaval on the telecom infrastructure front, particularly spectrum allocation. I wish to see significant steps in this Budget to address spectrum-related issues. I also hope that initiatives such as the National Knowledge Network continue to get focus and resources to be successful.
Financial inclusion is another area that should gets attention in this Budget. Mobile phones, as a platform for financial inclusion, have had great success in Africa and are beginning to make impact in India. I would like regulations and policies around mobile payments to be fast-tracked in this Budget.
A recent survey conducted in the US showed that the mobile application economy generated nearly 500,000 jobs in the US alone. I believe the Indian mobile ecosystem has a similar potential, if not more, to contribute to the country’s economy. I would like to see policy instruments that make it easier and affordable for entrepreneurs to take the plunge.
The mobile industry’s socio-economic impact on India in the past decade and a half is arguably larger than that of the railways nearly 100 years back. It might perhaps be time for the finance minister to consider having a separate telecom Budget. Who knows, it could even replace the Railway Budget.
Naveen Tewari
Founder & CEO,
InMobi