Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday brushed aside concerns of global technology companies on the proposed Data Protection Bill, adding the legislation would be “supportive of the startup ecosystem and protect consumer rights at the same time”.
The Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship asserted that his government would not create legislation that slowed down the startup momentum of India even “one inch” as it was poised to become the “biggest startup ecosystem”.
The bill could see daylight “very soon”, Chandrasekhar said on the sidelines of the India Global Forum, an annual summit in Bengaluru.
The comments came less than a week after many global companies including Amazon, Google, Cisco and Dell raised concerns about some of the recommendations made by the joint parliamentary committee on the proposed Data Protection Bill.
Inclusion of non-personal data in the bill, restriction on cross-border data transfers and data localisation obligations were some of their major concerns.
Spelling his approach to the bill, he said it will be done in a careful manner so as to not “upset the applecart” and also keep the promises and dreams of startups and entrepreneurs. Explaining the rationale, he said it shouldn’t create a “problem later on”.
“What A, B or C say is not material to us, our basic focus on any digital legislation in the digital ecosystem will always be supportive of the startup ecosystem and protect consumer rights at the same time.”
He planned to listen to all stakeholders.
“Our main goal is to protect the Indian startup ecosystem, that is our primary objective because for the next 10 years all of the growth will come from there. We will listen to all views before we legislate”.
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