Budget 2015: Rs 2,510 crore for Digital India, telecom and electronics

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that Rs 2,510 crore has been set aside in the budget for 2015-16 under the head "Digital India Programme and Telecommunications and Electronic Industries.

He also announced the setting up of a National Rural Internet and Technology Mission, allocating Rs 500 crore for the same. This Mission  will impart IT training in villages, especially in schools under the Digital India programme. He highlighted that there is an imminent need to bridge the divide between digital haves and have-nots, for which the government had launched the Digital India programme.

Digital India is a government project that aims to transform the country into a connected economy and has the potential to attract investment in electronics manufacturing, and create millions of jobs and support trade.

The project launched last year hopes to digitally connect all the 2. 5 lakh gram panchayats across the country and provide essential social infrastructure such as education and basic health care services digitally in form of e-education, e-health respectively.

"This would ensure improved access to services through IT enabled platforms, greater transparency in government processes," Jaitley explained, while referring to the Digital India initiative.

He added that the programme would further lead to an increased indigenous production of IT hardware and software for exports and also an improved domestic availability of these goods.