Union Budget 2014 From A Geek's Perspective | TechTree.com

Union Budget 2014 From A Geek's Perspective

Find out what impact this year's budget will have on the technology field.

 
Union Budget 2014 From A Geek's Perspective

After a landslide victory in General Elections, the newly elected BJP government unveiled the Union Budget. Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley made many interesting and puzzling announcements. For instance, Rs 7060 crores were allocated for the so called "smart cities", while only 500 crores were put aside for the rural power infrastructure. Then, there were some broken promises. Honourable Minister Jaitley, who demanded to raise the IT slab to 5 lakh in April, has now settled for 2.5 lakh (after coming to power). There's so much to talk about this year's budget, but here are the select announcements that tech enthusiasts should care about:

Televisions
BJP government has given CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TVs a tax exemption. In case if you're wondering, CRTs are those bulky television that no reputed brand manufacturers these days. LCD panels below 19" are also duty-free. Overall, it's a good news, if you're planning to buy an obsolete or small TV.

Computers
In the latest budget, import duty on the electronic products has been increased. This means that the electronics manufactured outside India will become expensive. On the other hand, components will attract minimal duty. This move will encourage companies to assemble products locally.

Renewable Energy
Considering the energy crisis in our country, there is a dire need to promote the clean and renewable energy. Thankfully, the government is actually taking steps to make such technology affordable. There's now duty exemption on equipment such as wind turbines and solar panels.

Smart Cabs
Service provided by radio-taxis has been brought under service tax. In effect, Meru and Tabcabs are set to become more expensive.

Gaming And Animation
Modi government is giving importance to the multimedia field. The budget proposes a 'National Centre for Excellence in Animation, Gaming, and Special Effects'. Yes, the government did talk about gaming! Finally, Indian gaming addicts can think of making a "career" in gaming and 3D animation industry.

Entrepreneur Programme
A nationwide District level 'Incubation and Accelerator Programme' will be taken up to turn bright ideas into businesses. So brace yourself for a flood of entrepreneurs in coming years.

EGovernance
To boost tourism in our country, government is planning to set up electronic Visa centres at nine airports. The required infrastructure is expected to be set-up in next six months. In future, BJP is planning to make more of such processes accessible over the Internet.

Smart Cities
As mentioned earlier, the government has allocated Rs 7060 crore set-up over a 100 smart cities. These will be "modern" satellite towns to the existing larger cities. According to the Finance Minister, such cities should be developed to accommodate the migrants coming from rural areas.

Internet Accessibility
To bridge the digital divide, the government has come up with a Rs 5000 crore 'Digital India' programme. Under this initiative, broadband and other IT facilities will be made available to villages in India. Sounds good, but I wonder how's it possible when most of our villages still lack electricity.


Tags : E-Governance, Internet

 
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