In what should have been a major story that was buried under other headlines, India achieved a significant milestone in its Digital India programme when 100,000-gram panchayats, or village councils, across the country were connected through a high-speed optical fibre network called BharatNet.

Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, has emphasised that the digital economy is critical for India to make government services and welfare benefits accessible to remote areas of the country seamlessly.

A committee had been constituted by the Department of Economic Affairs, under the Chairmanship of Ratan P Watal, former Finance Secretary and Principal Adviser, Niti Aayog, in August 2016 to review medium term measures necessary to promote digital payment systems in the country. This Committee on Digital Payments has recommended structural reforms in the payment ecosystem, including amendments to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is in itself a path-breaking fiscal reform. Corporate tax and other indirect taxes may be revamped keeping in view GST requirement.

The Union Budget for fiscal 2018 has a progressive outlook and encourages investments with initiatives like affordable housing being given infrastructure status to avail new funding avenues. The Budget has expanded the scope for the capital and bond markets.

The whole thing started out on the basic premise of corruption and black money. Now, the crusade against black money has morphed into a rather arcane campaign for promoting a cashless economy. Why this midcourse change of the primary objective of such a nationwide project like demonetisation?

The government´s move to demonetise old Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 banknotes has been widely hailed by the country´s infrastructure sector as a positive development. Industry representatives would also like the government and its agencies to simultaneously roll out adequate measures to counter any likely bumps on the road ahead.

Banks and financial institutions in India are poised to leverage the benefits of technology, and mobile devices, to increase their presence in under-banked sectors in India, without needing brick and mortar structures.