Union Budget 2019: Digital push augurs well for $1 trillion internet economy, says Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy

Budget 2019 has to be considered through the lens of the economic challenges before the government. This in mind, it was good to see FM Nirmala Sitharaman balance aspirations of all sections of industry and society. Her maiden budget clearly put MSMEs, infrastructure, innovation and Digital India at the forefront of driving India’s economic growth. With this Budget, the government committed to bridge the rural-urban divide through technology. While India has made great strides in increasing internet penetration, the Budget calls for further digitisation by expanding the BharatNet scheme, and 100% rural electrification by 2022. The initiatives to reduce India’s cash dependency by incentivising digital payments will boost tech and financial inclusion.