Digitization To Boost India's Revenue: Manish Tewari

As India has already embarked on the ambitious digitization journey (with a deadline of March 31, 2013 for the second phase) Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari, citing regulator, on 16 January said that the process will boost state coffers.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Convergence India 2013 event in New Delhi, Tewari said that digitization brings about a win-win situation for the ecosystem and the government.

"Government is sensitive to the consumers. We are closely working with the ecosystem as we move into the second phase of digitization," he said. For Chennai, the minister said that there are issues that are currently subjudice.

"As per TRAI recommendation, digitization would lead to garner nearly $5 billion in revenue," Tewari added. He also lauded operators-agnostic technologies. "MNP that allows consumers to switch is good," Tewari said.

ASSOCHAM, in its report, puts cumulative value of the tax receipts lost to the government at $1 billion per year. Digitization will also help the government pursue India's broadband goals, the industry body said.

Tewari said one of the government's primary concerns now is to ensure that digital set top box (STB) manufacturing happens in India as the whole process is going to lead to revenue expansion of about $4 to $5 billion, according to a Trai estimate.

Tewari also said STBs should be inter-operable and wanted enough operators for the consumers to switch to.

To a query on the Convergence Bill, Tewari admitted that they couldn't work on it. "It's good to have convergence across telecom and media space. It's inveterate. EGoM will work on the prevalent conditions," he added.

The Convergence Bill 2000 that hanged in the Parliament seeks amalgamation of Information Technology (IT), telecommunications and entertainment industry. It aims to replace the Telegraph Act of 1985 and the Indian Wireless Act of 1933.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/1025-digitization-to-boost-indias-revenue-manish-tewari.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/1025-digitization-to-boost-indias-revenue-manish-tewari.html