The Union Budget for 2022 was announced yesterday, and with it came a whole lot of interesting announcements from the Government of India.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a ton of exciting proposals in her speech, as India takes the next step in becoming a technologically advanced nation.
In the end, the 2022 Union Budget included a lot of new proposals involving tech, gaming and many more, and here are some of the most intriguing ones to look out for.
India’s own digital currency
As cryptocurrency becomes a major digital asset around the world, the Indian government gave its stance by legalizing its transfer.
Along with legalizing cryptocurrency, Sitharaman also announced that India will have its own digital currency which will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Blockchain powered Digital Rupee by @RBI will be introduced 2022-23 in India
Great news! More crypto adoption on the way ????
Glad to know that RBI will now start getting deeper into crypto. Hope to see banks start getting involved with crypto industry as well#IndiaWantsCrypto
— Nischal (WazirX) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) February 1, 2022
Cryptocurrency tax
While crypto holders were thrilled to see the legalization of digital assets, they also received a huge blow when Sitharaman revealed that any income from their transfer will be taxed at 30%.
Along with a 1% TDS, crypto holders will be pretty dejected with the news as it has arrived following a rough market with prices of digital currencies dipping all around the world.
New task force for the AVGC sector
The Animation, Visual Effect, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) sector received a major boost with the 2022 Union Budget when it was announced that the government will set up a promotion task force to oversee its rapid growth.
With the sector performing quite well in recent years, the task force will help employ a lot of the country’s youth, while also helping local players to make noise in the global market.
5G spectrum auction
The Government of India also hit the ground running with the country’s transition from 4G to 5G by announcing the spectrum auctions which will take place this year.
Over the last few months, many telecoms have already ran trials of 5G network, and with this rollout, India will soon have some of the fastest connectivity to use for its massive population
Fiberisation by 2025
In her speech, Nirmala Sitharaman also revealed the government’s vision to connect rural villages by laying optical fiber in remote areas.
The laying of optical fibre in villages to be completed by 2025: FM @nsitharaman #AatmaNirbharBharatKaBudget
— DD News (@DDNewslive) February 1, 2022
The contracts for this initiative will be awarded to private players through the BharatNet project, and the government intends to complete it by 2025.
