In a speech where the words "technology," "tech," and "digital" were mentioned over 50 times collectively, it's hard to keep track of all that was announced. Here's a round-up of all the announcements Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made in her Budget 2022-23 speech in Parliament that have to do with tech and tech policy. All announcements related to tech and tech policy Crypto: RBI will launch a digital rupee in 2022-23: The RBI will launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) using blockchain technology in 2022-23, Sitharaman said. This will "give a big boost to the digital economy" and "digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system", she said. Read more 30 percent taxation of virtual digital assets: Given the "phenomenal increase in transactions in virtual digital assets", the government has decided to tax any income from the transfer of any virtual digital asset at the rate of 30 percent, Sitharaman said. There will be no deduction in respect of any expenditure except the cost of acquisition and loss from the transfer of virtual digital assets cannot be set off against any other income, she added. Furthermore, TDS on payment made in relation to transfer of these assets will be taxed at the rate of 1 percent and virtual digital assets given as gifts will be taxed in the hands of the recipient, Sitharaman said. Read more Telecom: 5G spectrum auction: The government will conduct the required spectrum auctions for 5G in 2022 to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services…
