Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the government provides equal opportunity to all startups, and there is a level playing field for Indian and foreign startups alike.
Commenting on the lack of a level playing field for Indian startups, Kharge said, “Nothing is preventing any Indian startup to go and raise foreign capital. There is a level playing field when it comes to access to foreign capital”.
India’s homegrown Internet companies – Flipkart Co-Founder Sachin Bansal and Ola Co-Founder Bhavish Aggarwal– recently said that well-funded US-companies compete with Indian startups in a “non-fair” way by using capital to outperform their Indian counterparts.
“I agree that foreign startups which come to India have huge pockets,” adding, “the point is, competition is good because consumers benefit at the end of the day.”
The Minister said that he understands that the government needs to pull up its socks on the policy front and he has been working on it. “Personally, I would give first preference to desi startup as I see it as a moral responsibility to support my state startup. That’s the reason I interact with everybody… But, when you talk about a level playing field, the government provides a level playing field to all,” he added.
Speaking about the new cab aggregator policy to limit surge pricing at 4X, Kharge said that the government’s policy is not as fast as the technology changes and it cannot be a “knee-jerk reaction”.
“You cannot change something just because somebody is saying something about policy. It has to be well thought out programme. You have to see the social and the long-term impact of the decision”
Speaking on the issue of data protection in the wake of the recent hacks, the Minister said, “Cyber security is a grey area and Unfortunately, is not a priority area for many governments”.
However, with respect to Karnataka, Kharge is optimistic about the Centre of Excellence for cyber security in Bangalore which he says will be the “solid foundation” to ensure cyber security in the state. He said that the centre will ensure that skills are bred in-house to tackle cyber terrorism and cyber crimes against India.
Asked about the centre’s recent move to abolish high-value banknotes and the push for cashless transactions, Kharge said, that though he is a supporter of a cashless digital economy, but the way it was implemented was ‘appalling’.
The Minister said that his biggest fear in this digital push is the ‘extent of outreach’. He said, “Since, now there is no turning back. We now have to digitally equip our people. Aside from the infrastructure, there needs to be education on what is an e-wallet, an m-wallet, AEPS, USSD”.
As a part of building digital infrastructure kharge said that the government of Karnataka has planned to have broadband connectivity to all panchayats by April 2017. “We launched 11 WiFi services in panchayats already” to ensure last mile connectivity, he said.
Source: Economic Times
