India to introduce new legal framework for data privacy, free data flow: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Piyush Goyal has announced that India is set to bring in a new legal framework to ensure data privacy while promoting the free flow of data among trusted global partners.

The minister stated this during his address at the UK India Business Council’s ‘UK-India Technology Futures Conference’ held in New Delhi on Thursday.

Highlighting India’s capabilities, Goyal stated, “India is the best place in the world to provide sustainable infrastructure to the digital world. In addition to a robust legal system, India is going to bring out a new legal framework to ensure data privacy that will encourage free flow of data among trusted partners”.

He emphasized the intersection of sustainability and the digital world, pointing out that data processing systems will consume a significant portion of energy in the future. “Major portion of energy will be consumed by systems that will churn out data, and that will have an impact on sustainability issues”, Goyal said.

Minister @PiyushGoyal delivered the keynote address at the @UKIBC UK-India Technology Futures Conference.

Pitching India as the land of opportunities for businesses, he identified five areas for technology cooperation including skilling of the workforce, telemedicine, disaster… pic.twitter.com/RLoTgv5c0f

— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) November 21, 2024

The minister also noted India’s extensive interconnected energy grid, which will reach a thousand gigawatts by 2030, combining traditional and renewable energy sources. “For data centres, this huge amount of clean energy provides an unheard-of reliability and sustainability”, he added.

Goyal also stressed the potential for collaboration between India and the UK, particularly leveraging the UK’s innovation-driven universities and India’s large pool of STEM graduates.

He proposed five areas for partnership which includes Developing AI learning platforms and integrating virtual reality into education, Collaborating on telemedicine to reduce healthcare costs in the UK and provide quality healthcare in remote parts of India, Creating climate modeling tools to predict and manage natural disasters, Advancing precision farming and residue-free agriculture to improve productivity and Innovating in industries like organic chemicals, engineering goods, and food products to capitalize on technological advancements.

Goyal concluded by emphasizing that the growing demand in India’s emerging market makes it a promising destination for partnerships in cutting-edge fields. (ANI)