The Union Finance Minister announced the introduction of a digital rupee by the RBI, e-passports and taxation on crypto gains as part of next year’s fiscal plans. While much needs still to be done in terms of legislation and regulation, the digitization of more sectors is widely anticipated to improve daily chores, in business and personal life.
5G Rollout and Crypto Regulation Seen as Important Stepping Stones
The Central government is looking determined to take part in the crypto revolution with the imminent issue of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) by the RBI. India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, spoke recently during a post-Budget press conference revealing the government’s resolve to make the nation digitally independent by 2047.
Even more important than the digital rupee, in practical terms, the Centre sees 5G connectivity becoming a mainstream reality in the next FI. The full rollout of the next-generation telecom spectrum is expected to follow a public auction. 5G communications are often stressed as the chance of rural and remote areas of closing the digital divide with urban India.
The digital rupee is expected to employ blockchain and other cutting edge technologies. It is part of the government plan to incentivize and support desi tech startups, on one hand. On the other, it will give the RBI more control over digital assets which are currently completely unregulated. Despite that, the number of digital transactions has been booming and consumers are constantly looking for alternatives.
The downside for many crypto traders is the taxation rate of 30% that will be introduced across the nation. It will include gifts and all gains made from trading of virtual assets. The foreseen regulation excludes tax deductions for losses from crypto trade, similar to the stand taken on gambling, the big gray area of Indian fiscal legislation.
The upside, of course, is the growing involvement of the Centre with digital assets, backing up their importance for the nation’s economy and social life. Daily tasks such as bill payment, peer transfers and online lottery in India will become more easy, stable and transparent with the full-scale recognition of digital assets.
Although the taxation rate is somewhat high, cryptocurrency platforms and some tech startups immediately voiced their support of the new government plans. The hope is that by takint this direction the Centre will end up ultimately passing nationwide regulation for virtual trade, online entertainment and new-generation gaming.
Online Lottery Tops Real-Money Gaming Trends
The relevance of India’s online transformation has been pointed out in a series of industry studies. India’s favorite real-money games, the State-run legal lotteries, have outgrown offline distribution and millions of regular players are searching for online alternatives.
Full digitization would affect an immense domestic market, only partially revealed by the 8 million monthly searches for lottery-related terms. We need to consider that such figures cover only English lookups in Google – and 70% of desi users consider local language content more reliable than English one.
It is estimated that at least 30 million players will gladly switch offshore providers with desi online lottery platforms. In a nation with already 750 million internet users, 400 million gamers and at least 150 million real-money players, the sky is only the limit for India’s online lottery market.
