Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that the government will soon come up with a ‘digital by design’ platform to be jointly developed by the Digital India Corporation (DIC) and the National Informatics Center (NIC) to facilitate the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA).
“The entire implementation process for the DPDPA will be digital in design. Parallel to drafting the rules, we are working on creating a ‘digital by design’ platform so that the implementation of the DPDPA can be done in digital form,” Vaishnaw said while talking to the press.
“The platform will be developed internally, either by the NIC or the DIC, or with a joint effort from both,” he added.
The minister said the notification of rules for the DPDPA under the new government is a top priority for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
“The drafting of the DPDPA rules is at a very advanced stage. We are now starting the sector consultation and working as comprehensively as possible, as we did during the telecom law and the DPDPA law,” the minister said.
He further said that the government will prefer a much more comprehensive approach during the consultation on the rules and will not rush any phase of the process.
Vaishnaw, who is heading the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for the second time in a row, said there would be continuity in terms of the digital regulatory framework that the government has developed over time.
The DPDPA, Information Technology Rules and the upcoming Digital India framework have been the top priority areas for the Modi government in terms of technology policy regulations.
The DPDPA, which was passed by parliament in August last year, is still waiting for the rules to be announced. Once the rules are announced, a 45-day public consultation period is expected to be followed by the establishment of the Data Protection Board.
As India’s first-ever dedicated digital privacy legislation, the DPDPA provides broad principles for the collection and processing of personal information in digital form. The law prescribes monetary penalties of up to Rs 250 crore for each case of data breach and blocking of entities in case of repeat violations.
Aim to double electronics production
On the electronics manufacturing front, Vaishnaw said there was increasing interest from component manufacturers to join the Indian manufacturing ecosystem.
He further said that the government will aim to double electronics production (including for exports) in this term, which will create 50 lakh jobs in the sector.
“India’s electronics manufacturing is about $125 to $130 billion, with an employment figure of 20 to 25 lakh. In this term, we can double this to about Rs 50 lakh in terms of employment numbers and USD 200 to USD 300 billion in total output,” he said.
First print: June 15, 2024 | 11:40 PM IST