Budget 2023-2024 The Crypto Ecosystem in India is Crying Out
The Annual Financial Statement and Demand for Grants comprise the union budget for 2023. The yearly Financial Statement details the government's revenue and expenditure for the coming year. Grant Demand is a vote-on-account.
The government can use the Consolidated Fund of India till the Appropriation Bill passes under this provision. It comprises half-yearly reports on the government's financial performance. Economic Survey and Finance Bill are included.
The national budget details the disbursement of government funds and the most recent tax policies. In 2018, this included a 30% tax on profits and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on all transactions for the cryptocurrency business, which caused an uproar.
Almost immediately, trading volume collapsed, and in the nine months after the announcement, Indians transferred over $3.8 billion in trading volume from domestic to international crypto exchanges as interest in cryptocurrencies plunged.
CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies, have sparked widespread interest among central banks. Recent reports indicate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may expand it's pilot 'digital rupee' initiative ‘based on the learnings from the existing pilot.’ The recent statement made by Governor Shaktikanta Das on CBDC adoption suggests that the 'digital rupee' may receive support.
At a recent conference, he made the following prediction about the future of money: ‘Central banks issued digital currencies are the future of money, and their adoption can assist save on logistic and printing costs.’ Industry observers are anticipating a statement concerning the digital rupee in the upcoming Union Budget.
Kamlesh Nagware, Chief Technology Officer at blockchain company Snapper Future Tech, predicts that 'CBDC will be a hot topic of discussion in this year's Budget.' He expects the announcement of measures to facilitate an offline, cross-border payment and digital asset ecosystem for CBDC from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Indian government has long been an advocate of community-based CBDCs. Ms Sitharaman predicted that the introduction of the digital rupee would result in a more streamlined and cost-effective method of managing the country's currency.
To those who are unaware, CBDCs are the digital equivalent of government-issued currency. The digital rupee is one such currency, and it is supported by blockchain technology.
'A total of 16,000 users participated in electronic rupee transactions throughout the CBDC trial period. There is a lot of promise for the future of e-rupee, and the start is quite promising 'Amogh Tiwari, CEO and Founder of DayFi, an NFT-based financial utility firm, is convinced of this.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will release a 'National Strategy on Blockchain' in December 2021, which is expected to give the blockchain initiative a boost in the following years. Interestingly, the concept of a government-backed digital currency wallet for transactions in the agricultural sector is discussed in this paper.
Mr Tiwari argues that in the upcoming Indian budget, 'appropriate allocation for blockchain and its implementation on Indian infrastructure like shipping, finance, digital documents etc.' can be expected.
The most popular application of blockchain technology, which is widely regarded as secure, trustworthy, and transparent, is CBDCs. However, it is impossible to have a meaningful conversation about CBDCs without drawing parallels to cryptocurrencies, which are also based on the blockchain.
The future of India's cryptocurrency business remains uncertain as the RBI governor has called cryptocurrencies 'nothing but gambling' and has called for an outright prohibition, and the Finance Minister has sought international collaboration for crypto regulation.
'Cryptography and cannabidiol (CBD) have zero in common. As an alternative, the administration will concentrate on the latter, 'Mr Nagware, avers. Mr Tiwari echoes these sentiments, adding that CBDCs are an important step toward widespread blockchain use.
They both think that the introduction of the digital rupee will hasten the widespread use of digital currencies in India. Mr Nagware believes that the widespread dissemination of information provided by the E-Rupee will aid in the development of more robust regulations for digital currencies and assets.
Adopting digital assets such as CBDCs and other blockchain-backed assets can reportedly add $1 trillion to India's GDP by 2032.