India adopting most progressive data protection, crypto laws: Mukesh Ambani

Ambani, who owns Reliance Jio, India's largest mobile service provider, also lent support to blockchain and real time tech to improve financial access

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday welcomed the government decision to introduce laws on data privacy and cryptocurrency.

"India is putting the most forward looking policies and regulations in place. India has Aadhar, Jan Dhan accounts and our UPI interface. We are on the verge of introducing the data protection bill which I look forward to  and also the cryptocurrency bill. So I think we are on the right track," Ambani said in an interaction at Infinity Forum.

Ambani, who owns  Reliance Jio, India's largest mobile service provider, also lent support to block chain and real time technology to improve financial access. “Blockchain is a technology I believe in and its different from crypto," he added.

Ambani added  digitisation in financial services has been sporadic and new technologies would make it possible to decentralise them. “There will be centralised government and central bank policies but there will be a path to decentralised technological solutions where finance will be enabled and available to everybody. I also think real time technologies will help settle trades not in days or hours but in real time. Smart contracts will become a reality,” he said.

He added that the convergence of new technologies, physical infrastructure and digital through IoT will enable decentralization of the financial sector in a way we have never imagined.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in favour of blockchain technology and is developing its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), but it is vehemently opposed to cryptocurrencies, which are also based on blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies pose a serious risk to the country's financial stability, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has said repeatedly.  This is because cryptocurrencies are currencies issued by private parties on which a country’s monetary system has no control. Wild swings in prices of cryptocurrencies, led by speculators, also make them unsuitable as exchange.

Speaking on digital infrastructure in the country, Ambani said, India will have one of the world’s most advanced digital infrastructure with the roll out of 5G services next year.

“Today the entire country is transitioning fully from 2G to 4G. We are in the process of creating an affordable ecosystem of devices to enable greater adoption, supported by faster rollout of optic fibre, cloud and data centre. The next step will be connectivity of machines, devices and vehicles which is the Internet of Things. With 5G rollout next year in India we are on our way to have one of the most advanced digital infrastructure anywhere in the world,” he said.

He also stressed the need for uniform global data standards for cross-border transactions. “ Data and digital infrastructure is strategically important for India and every other country in the world. Every country has the right to build and protect their strategic digital infrastructure. We need uniform global standards so that cross border transactions, collaborations and partnerships are not hampered. Also every citizen's right to privacy has to be protected,” he said.