Highlights of previous Budget (2009-10), Key Features/Commitment
Financial Inclusion
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A sub-committee of State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) to identify and formulate an action plan for providing banking facilities in under-banked/unbanked areas in the next three years.
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Rs. 100 crore set aside as one-time grant in-aid to ensure provision of at least one centre/Point of Sales (POS) for banking services in each of the unbanked blocks.
Mobile Phones
“In the forthcoming year, our biggest focus would be targeting the un-banked and the under-banked. Mobile phones will lead the way in penetrating rural areas and delivering financial services to the have-nots.
Even though the government and the RBI have been very encouraging in the past one year, additional steps should be taken other than the Rs 100 crore allocation it undertook last year. Financial inclusion should be a priority in the forthcoming year for the BFSI sector and deliver a holistic financial model which will help the microfinance sector in India.
Mobile telephony network is an important infrastructure for spurring economic growth and with so many value added services that it can now deliver it has a direct impact on country’s GDP. The Telecom sector has grown tremendously in the last decade and today stands at a tipping point where significant investment will be required going forward and therefore it merits Infrastructure status and its benefits.
Another big boost to the mobile banking industry this year was the exemption of CVD (Excise) duty on parts for manufacture of mobile phones and accessories leading to reduction in mobile phone prices.
This has helped in boosting the business of many domestically grown mobile companies as well as offering more choice to consumers. In the forthcoming budget, mobile phones and telecom companies should be given some more leeway which will encourage them to proliferate rapidly in areas which were earlier untouched.
All in all, looking at last one year’s performance, we are sure the Indian government will take adequate steps to ensure optimum benefits for the financially underserved sections of the society in the forthcoming FY.”
The Author is Deepak Chandnani, CEO, Obopay Inc.