The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC)’s India Ideas Summit 2022 saw Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and IT participate in a panel discussion on data governance and advanced manufacturing.

Speaking at a panel discussion, the Minister said, “Our ambition is to build a USD 300bn electronics manufacturing industry in India by 2025-26.”

Electronics manufacturing, currently at USD 75 bn, will form an important component of the USD 1 trillion economy for India. India’s manufacturing capabilities have really strengthened during the COVID-19 landscape making us a preferred partner in the supply chains across the world, said Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

He further added, “Our approach is focused on expanding India’s innovation ecosystem and the internet and technology are going to be big enablers in the continued expansion of our economy. We also have a comprehensive approach and will enact a new legislative framework that addresses the digital space and acts as a catalyst for the Indian economy by enabling more innovation, more start-ups and at the same time also protecting the citizens of India in terms of safety and trust and accountability. 

On the data protection side, we have approached the parliament with a comprehensive framework of laws which includes the Digital Data Protection Law which will address the data protection concerns of the digital economy. 

Additionally, we have the National Data Governance Framework Policy which addresses the non-personalized data and anonymous data, among others. We will have new rules, regulations and laws rolled out for in the next 3-4 months and this will be done with consideration to all the involved stakeholders and countries. Our focus is to build good legislation, rules and framework and build an enabling ecosystem which will ensure India’s success in the coming decade.”

Earlier in the day, Gautam Adani, Founder & Chairman, Adani Group was recognised with the USIBC Global Leadership Award 2022.

Ambassador (ret.), Atul Keshap, USIBC President said, “We are now at a moment when geostrategic and geoeconomic convergence will shape much of the near future. This demands that the US and India embrace closer economic partnership and literally deliver the goods for their people. I am delighted that we have put the pandemic behind us and are able to focus on driving the strategic narrative between India and the US. This augurs well for both nations.”

(with inputs from ANI)