Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced the Union Budget for the record eighth time, with a slew of announcements for the startup and tech sector, including a fund of funds (FoF), an artificial intelligence (AI) centre and measures to boost global capability centres, among others.
Here are the top announcements from the Budget:
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- A new fund of funds (FoF) announced for startups with an expanded scope of Rs 10,000 crore was announced by Sitharaman.
- The government has proposed to set up a centre of excellence (CoE) in artificial intelligence (AI) for education with a total investment of Rs 500 crore.
- The government will extend the startup incorporation period by 5 years, allowing more firms to qualify for benefits.
- Gig workers in India will get health insurance under the government’s Jan Arogya scheme, and will be given identity cards, the minister announced.
- 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs will be set up in the next five years to cultivate scientific temper in young minds.
- The government will launch the Bharatiya Bhasha Pushtak scheme to provide a digital form of Indian language books for schools and higher education.