India’s tech news in 2023
January, February, March
Indian tech news coverage in the first quarter of 2023 covered items spanning issues, areas and technologies including: the growth in India’s semiconductor capabilities and partnerships; critical minerals developments; moves in India’s digital payments ecosystem, in-country and overseas; Indian satellite and space technology news; and many more.
Hit the headlines below to read each Indian tech news item – online, free and in full.
January 2023 | February 2023 | March 2023
We also deliver a weekly email newsletter, capturing the week’s tech news headlines from across Asia Pac and the Indo-Pacific.
Bain & Co / IVCA: India Venture Capital Report 2023
tech news: March 2023
- India: Gov’t to establish 3 large-scale ‘grievance committees’ to oversee moderation decisions of Meta, Google, Twitter and others, sparking concerns over censorship and political misuse
- India: NeoDocs startup unveils smartphone-based health test kit, using a urine sample to give results in 30 seconds
- India: Foxconn iPhone maker reportedly to establish $1BN 300-acre mega-facility near Bengaluru International Airport as part of diversification bid in response to China issues
- India and Italy unveil Startup Bridge initiative, a matchmaking platform to link early-stage startups with investors
- Taiwan’s Foxconn Foxconn looks at cooperation in India in new areas including electric vehicles and chips, looking to boost India production to 25% from current 5-7%
“Apple’s iPhones will soon be assembled at another site in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, and 300 acres (120 hectares) have been aside to set up a factory, the state government said on Friday.”
- India: Pixxel unveils first images from hyperspectral satellites, with plans for 24-satellite constellation by end of 2025
- India: Delhi High Court rules use of obscene words on social media platforms must be regulated ‘when it crosses a particular line’ due to ‘true threat’ to impressionable minds and cannot be protected as free speech
- Sequoia heats up early-stage startup investments in India and Southeast Asia’ via @TechCrunch
India & SVB: “…every third startup in Silicon Valley is founded by Indian-Americans,…a significantly large number of these founders would be impacted…in…even making basic payments and giving paychecks to their employees.”
- India: Gov’t imposes anti-money laundering provisions on the crypto sector in regulatory move, in part hoping to ensure that KYC is not simply best practice but a compliance requirement
- India: 35% of employees at the nation’s IT organisations may soon be gig workers according to Microsoft and Zinnov study
India & semiconductors: “…will reach $55BN by 2026 with more than 60% of the market being driven by 3 industries which include smartphones & wearables, auto components, and computing & data storage.”
- India: Bharat 2 Study reveals 45% growth in active internet users in rural India since 2019, alongside 61% growth in female internet users in the same time
- India: Taiwan’s Foxconn to construct manufacturing facility in Telangana in H2 2023 focusing on Apple AirPods, with sights on production by end of 2024
- India’s Tech Mahindra IT services giant partners Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to run the telco’s tech ops, serving over 102M mobile subscribers
- India’s SatCom Industry Association and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute ink MOU to collaborate on common platform for the space industry of both countries
- ICYMI: Australia-India Critical Mineral Investment Partnership has been extended with new lithium and cobalt projects providing key milestones towards sustainable supply chains
India: Retail & E-commerce Trends Report 2022 (pdf link)
tech news: February 2023
- 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
Finding 404: A report on internet blocking in India
- 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
Australian Strategic Policy Institute: Critical Technology Tracker
tech news: January 2023
Finding 404: A report on internet blocking in India
- India: Government reportedly to launch Digital India Innovation Fund to focus on developing deep-tech startups
- India: Reserve Bank may soon allow Mastercard and Visa cards to be linked to national Unified Payments Interface
- India: Gov’t is considering regulatory framework to govern ‘live commerce’, with Bureau of Indian Standards in contact with stakeholders to assess the need for guidelines
- Non-resident Indians living abroad in 10 countries and with bank accounts in India will soon be able to use Unified Payments Interface platforms with international mobile numbers
- India: Mastercard onboards 1 million smallhold Indian farmers to Farm Pass platform, connecting farmers with consumers to streamline processes and lower costs
“This raises substantial privacy concerns especially when India lacks a dedicated law on privacy, cybersecurity and facial recognition,” said Pavan Duggal, an advocate and cyber law expert.
- India: Gov’t reportedly allowing banks to verify some transactions using facial recognition and iris scans, aiming to beat fraud but highlighting lack of protective legislation
- India: Gov’t proposes making Press Bureau and its other agencies the final arbiters of truth on what information is misleading online, forcing social media firms to adhere to their judgment
- India: Log9 battery startup raises $40M, aiming to commission the country’s first fully-integrated lithium ion cell production line
- India and ‘net blocking: “The total number of websites, URLs, applications, social media posts and accounts that are blocked in India within the time period from 2015 to 2022 are 55,607…”
The Decoding China dictionary: Terms, meanings, framing
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