India’s technology news in February 2023 touched on items, issues and technology areas including developments in solar-powered electric cars, emerging bans on China-run gambling and betting apps, India’s homegrown semiconductor industry growth, an Indian source for lithium in EVs, and more.
For ongoing daily and weekly updates, see our other editions.
- India: Reliance Retail, country’s largest retail chain, to accept ‘digital rupee’ payments in a move that may supercharge adoption of the recently-launched central bank digital currency
- India: Vayve Mobility unveils solar-powered electric car Eva, claiming 10-12km travel per day on solar energy charging and performance of 20km per unit of electricity
- India: Ministry of Electronics & Info Tech to ban 138 betting and gambling apps and another 94 that provide unauthorized loan services, to prevent misuse of data and loan sharking
- India: Paytm and PhonePe reportedly preparing to launch UPI Lite on their platforms, the National Payments Corporation’s payments offering specifically for small-ticket purchases
“…US is launching a series of ambitious technology, space and defence initiatives with India…designed to counter China in the Indo-Pacific and wean New Delhi off its reliance on Russia for weapons…”
- India: An overview of the iCET initiative, spearheaded by the National Security Councils of India and the US to expand partnerships in critical and emerging technologies
- India: XR Startup Program unveils 120 startups and innovations selected for MeitY Startup Hub and Meta program
- India announces discovery of 5.9M ton reserve of Lithium, rare critical mineral used in electric vehicle and solar panel manufacture, in Jammu and Kashmir region
- India: “There appear to be continuing attempts to strengthen the government’s control over the digital space—whether to censor content or to shut down the internet…”
- India: ‘Quick commerce’ stalls with Reliance Retail JioMart pausing JioMart Express services
- India: An intro to Chara Technologies, building scalable, cloud-controlled electric vehicle motors – minus rare-earth metals
India: “There are up to 50 incubators and 7,200 startups operating in [Uttar Pradesh]. An arrangement for Rs 100 crore has been made for seed funds to promote incubators…”
- India: An intro to Banyan Nation, sustainability startup turning plastic waste into FMCG bottles
- India: Uber inks deal with Tata Motors to induct 25K electric vehicles into its fleet, partnering fleet operators across the country for roll-out
- India and Singapore link UPI and PayNow digital payments systems, enabling instant and low-cost cross-border transfers valued at more than $1BN annually
- India: MindGrove Technologies semiconductor startup secures $2.3M seed funding led by Sequoia Capital India with focus on System-on-Chips design and manufacture
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