Technology use to make India developed nation by 2047: PM Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Technology will help India achieve the target of becoming a developed nation by 2047, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, as he outlined the massive and modern digital infrastructure being created to ensure that benefits of digital revolution reach all citizens.

Addressing a post-Budget webinar on 'Unleashing the Potential: Ease of Living Using Technology', Modi said the government wants to reduce the cost of compliance of small businesses, and asked the industry to formulate a list of unnecessary compliances that can be pruned. "We want to reduce the compliance cost of small businesses. Can you (industry) formulate a list of unnecessary compliances that can be pruned. We have finished 40,000 compliances," Modi said. India is creating a modern digital infrastructure, and ensuring that benefits of digital revolution reach every section of the society, he noted.

Citing certain examples, he said technology is being used to make the tax system faceless to address problems of taxpayers. Technologies like 5G and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are leading conversations now and poised to transform areas like medicine, education, agriculture, and many other sectors, Modi said adding technology formed the base of One Nation One Ration, and the JAM (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile number) trinity helped in giving benefits to the poor. "Now between your grievances and the redressal there is no person, just technology," he said.

The prime minister exhorted stakeholders to identify 10 problem areas facing the common man which can be solved using AI. He said the 21st century is technology-driven, and one cannot restrict it to just digital, and internet technology. "Every budget in the past few years has stressed the ease of living for people with the help of technology. In this year's budget also, the priority is given to technology and a human touch," he said.