Union Budget 2023 Focuses on AI Solutions and 5G Applications in India

Union Budget 2023 is all about AI Solutions and 5G applications in India.

In the Union Budget 2023, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman suggested a vision for not just "Make AI for India," but also "Make AI work for India," at a time when Artificial Intelligence is upending life in all sectors. The Union Budget 2023 focuses on AI Solutions and 5G Applications in India.

According to the Union Finance Minister, three centres of excellence for AI will be established to support the goals of "Make AI for India" and "Make AI work for India."

Sitharaman stated, premier educational institutions will host these centres of excellence for AI, which will provide cutting-edge applications in a variety of fields including agriculture, health, and other areas. Currently in India the use case of AI includes areas such as Biometric identification, facial recognition, criminal investigation, crowd and traffic management, agriculture, healthcare, education.

 In the 2018 Union Budget, the government had stated that it would create Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for research, education, and skill development in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), digital manufacturing, big data analytics, quantum communication, and the Internet of Things (IoT). However, it appears that the government has already started this AI revolution, as MeitY, NASSCOM, and DRDO have developed the country's AI road map. According to news agency IANS, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) has already been formed for AI-related research and development.

The 2023 Union Budget was unveiled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She referred to it as the first budget of "Amrit Kaal" and listed seven key themes. The budget places a lot of emphasis on India's expanding AI industry. The seven priorities of inclusive development, reaching last mile, infrastructure investment, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power, and financial sector will guide the nation in this endeavour, according to the minister. She also stated that the government's goal is to have a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy with strong public finances and a robust financial sector.

Sitharaman continued by saying that a National Data Governance Policy would be released in order to spur innovation and research by start-ups and universities. This will make anonymized data accessible.

"Leading industry players will partner in conducting interdisciplinary research, and develop cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of Agriculture, Health and sustainable cities. This will galvanize an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in the field," she added

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vi acquired 5G spectrum for their commercial networks as a result of India's 5G auctions, which came to a conclusion in the second half of 2022. Adani Data Networks is anticipated to introduce enterprise 5G services using the spectrum it purchased. Not only that, but there are also plans to establish up 100 laboratories in engineering schools to create use cases and applications for 5G services. "The labs will cover, among others, applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and health care applications," Sitharaman said in her speech.

100 labs will be set up in engineering schools with different authorities, regulators, banks, and other organisations for the creation of applications using 5G services. In order to realise the new range of possibilities, business models, and job potential, the labs will cover, among other things, applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and healthcare applications. Undoubtedly, the Indian government wants to completely realise the goal of "Make AI in India" in the ChatGPT age.

The government's appeal to encourage artificial intelligence, though, has industry experts enthused and hailing it as a "bold start." Some contend that further swift actions are required to achieve the lofty objectives. Without a doubt, the government is presenting the Union Budget 2023, which is expected to usher in a new age for professionals, and unleashing floodgates of new chances in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).