FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes Rs 1,500 crore scheme to promote digital payments

The government on Monday proposed a Rs 1,500 crore scheme to promote digital payments in the country.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there had been a considerable increase in digital payments in the recent past.

"To give a further boost to digital transactions, I earmark Rs 1,500 crore for a proposed scheme that will provide financial incentive to promote digital mode of payment," the minister said while presenting the Budget for 2021-22.

Sitharaman said, in her speech on the 2019 budget, a National Research Foundation (NRF) was announced.

"...We have now worked out the modalities, and the NRF outlay will be Rs 50,000 crore over five years. It will ensure the overall research ecosystem in the country is strengthened with focus on identified national priority thrust areas," she said.

The Minister of Finance also stated that a new National Language Translation Mission initiative would be launched.

The government also wants to finance its National Infrastructure Pipeline on a large scale, Sitharaman said, adding that it would set aside Rs 20,000 crore to start financing the Development Finance Institution (DFI) expected to cost more than Rs 111 lakh crore.

According to the finance minister, the Rs 20 billion allocated in the budget would allow the DFI to raise capital while enabling it with an outstanding Rs 5 lakh crore portfolio with potential expansion over the next three years.

The Minister of Finance announced the plan to establish the DFI to help finance the National Infrastructure Pipeline in the 2019-20 Budget speech. The NIP has around 7,000 projects across the country, at a massive expected cost of nearly ₹ 111 lakh crore between 2020 and 2025.