TechTicker Issue 53: February 2024

B is for Budget

It's February - the second month of the year if you believe that time is repetitive and linear or the month the budget comes out if you are a policy nerd. While there were a lot of expectations from the budget, it's safe to say now that it neither wowed us or shocked us. This was an interim budget in an election year and the Finance Minister's speech largely captured the government's achievements over the past 10 years and was a teaser of what the government seems to be certain is a next term. As expected from an interim budget, the details were minimal but there were some call outs to tech.

A corpus is being set out for 'tech-savvy' youths to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. This is a corpus of INR 1 lakh crore that's being established, with a fifty-year interest free loan period. It will provide financing or refinancing for long tenures with nil/low interest rates. The government hopes this will scale private sector research and