Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said the government is in talks with the Trump administration on the H1B visa issue and is hopeful of finding a solution soon.
“Indian IT industry has raised some concerns. We’re coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs, which in turn is touch with their counterpart in the U.S. on the visa issue,” the minister said. Ministry officials are in touch in with industry and are working in co-ordination, he said. The minister also spoke to IT veteran Narayan Murthy, besides industry body Nasscom on the issue.
The comments come a day after Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met top government officials, including IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary J S Deepak, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, Foreign Secretary Jai Shankar, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia. The meeting was also attended by representatives from Nasscom, besides CII and FICCI.
“During the meeting, some people mentioned the current issue such as increase in visa fees etc, while many others flagged the general trend that there in an increasing protectionism that is developing and what should be India’s strategic response in such a scenario,” Ms. Sundararajan said.
She added that India should be having a coherent response, whether it is from the industry or the government.
“India is a fairly robust market. We have enough strength to respond effectively… another issue which was looked at was how can we strengthen domestic industry because in the long run that will be important,” the IT Secretary said.
The minister also said that the government will soon be bringing out draft guidelines for digital payments rules for e-wallets with focus on consumers for public consultation.
“The digital payment draft rules for e-wallets and ready. These have been designed to protect consumer interest and also address security concerns. It will be soon put out for public consultation,” Mr. Prasad said.
Separately, the government is likely to announce soon an e-wallet insurance guideline where in, wallet providers will “voluntarily” offer insurance to customers.
“We already have a draft where voluntarily wallet providers have agreed to come board to provide an insurance scheme. We hope to announce it shortly and get more people on board. But we are not making that mandatory at this stage,” the Secretary said.
Aadhaar-enabled ration shops
Mr Prasad said the government plans to make all ration shop Aadhaar enabled by June 30. “We will make all 5.58 lakh ration shops Aadhaar enabled by June 30. We are in discussion with Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry for this,” he said.
Ration shops in the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have already been made Aadhaar-enabled, Mr Prasad informed.
On Apple
Asked about Apple, which is looking to set manufacturing facility in India, Ms Sundararajan said, “The issue is that there is a regime change from the usual excise duty to GST. GST is still evolving… what they are asking for is that make it profitable for us to manufacture domestically. And therefore, give us a favourable duty regime…exactly how favourable it should be etc needs to be seen.
“The first thing is what will be the manner in which it will be reflected in the GST regime, is yet to be decided by the GST council. So only once the GST council decides how domestic manufacturing incentives are reflected in GST... I am not commenting on whether all that they have asked for will be given.”
On Apple seeking to sell refurbished handsets, she added that as long as Apple intends to export refurbished handsets from India, the government does not have an issue.
NCCC
The National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC) – envisaged to strengthen and secure the country’s cyber space, is likely to become operational soon with the government kicking off the hiring process.
“The premises for NCCC is ready. Recruitment will start soon… 55 people will be brought on board in the first phase. The procurement of necessary tools and equipment is already in process,” the Secretary said.
