Government Initiatives

The Government of India has adopted few initiatives in the recent past, some of these are as follows:

• In October 2021, Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, approved the establishment of 157 new medical colleges to boost accessibility of affordable health treatments among citizens.
• In October 2021, the government launched a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to boost manufacturing of telecom and networking products in India. The scheme is expected to attract an investment of ~Rs. 3,345 crore (US$ 446.22 million) over the next four years and generate additional employment for >40,000 individuals.
• In October 2021, the government launched phase-II of the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship to empower students and boost skill development.
• In October 2021, the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission was launched by the government, to strengthen the critical healthcare network across India in the next four to five years.
• In September 2021, India and the UK joined the 11th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) to discuss the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) opportunities in services.
• Credit to non-food industries stood at Rs. 110.86 trillion (US$ 1.49 trillion), as of November 5, 2021.
• The Indian government is planning to introduce a credit incentive programme worth Rs. 50,000 crore (US$ 6.8 billion) to boost healthcare infrastructure in the country. The programme will allow companies to access funds to ramp up hospital capacity or medical supplies with the government acting as a guarantor.
• In June 2021, India and Australia announced its collaboration in cyber-enabled critical technologies, highlighting the requirement to boost the critical information security infrastructure such as 5G telecom networks.
• Under Union Budget 2021-22, the government allocated Rs. 7,000 crore (US$ 963.97 million) to the BharatNet programme to boost digital connectivity across India.
• FDI limit for insurance companies has been raised from 49% to 74% and 100% for insurance intermediates.
• In May 2021, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that India received an FDI inflow of US$ 81.72 billion, the highest FDI during FY 2020-21.
• In March 2021, the central government infused Rs. 14,500 crore (US$ 1.99 billion) capital in Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India and UCO Bank through non-interest bearing bonds.
• On January 15, 2021, the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) was launched in 600 districts with 300+ skill courses. Spearheaded by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the third phase will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills. PMKVY 3.0 aims to train eight lakh candidates.
• In January 2021, the Department of Telecom, Government of India, signed an MoU with the Ministry of Communications, Government of Japan, to strengthen cooperation in the areas of 5G technologies, telecom security and submarine optical fibre cable system.
• On November 4, 2020, the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, approved to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) of United Kingdom Government to cooperate in the field of telecommunications/information and communication technologies (ICTs).
• In October 2020, the government selected Hughes Communications India to connect 5,000 village panchayats in border and naxal-affected states and island territories with satellite broadband under BharatNet project by March 2021.
• In September 2020, the government announced that it may infuse Rs. 200 billion (US$ 2.72 billion) in public sector banks through recapitalisation of bonds
• In the next five years, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is working to increase the contribution of the digital economy to 20% of GDP. The government is working to build cloud-based infrastructure for collaborative networks that can be used for the creation of innovative solutions by AI entrepreneurs and startups.
• On Independence Day 2020, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) to provide a unique health ID to every Indian and revolutionise the healthcare industry by making it easily accessible to everyone in the country. The policy draft is under 'public consultation' until September 21, 2020.
• In September 2020, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced a new electronics & hardware manufacturing policy aligned with the old policy to increase the state's electronics output to US$ 100 billion by 2025. Under the policy, it aims to meet the requirement for incremental human resource by upskilling and training >100,000 people by 2024.
• Government of India has launched the National Broadband Mission with an aim to provide Broadband access to all villages by 2022.