MeitY's digital push stalls at the gate; parliament asks why

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) got a 32.5% boost in its FY25 budget, taking its allocation to ₹21,936.90 crore. But Parliament isn’t celebrating, because ₹1,574 crore from last year’s budget was left unused.

The Standing Committee on Communications and IT has pulled MeitY up for what it calls “poor planning and lax monitoring.” At the heart of the underperformance are two of India’s flashiest digital schemes: the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) programme and the Modified Semiconductor and Display Manufacturing Mission. Together, they account for over ₹1,097 crore of the unspent funds.

This isn’t just a bureaucratic hiccup. The schemes that didn’t spend their allocated budgets are the same ones that underpin India’s dreams of becoming a global semiconductor hub, expanding digital manufacturing, and accelerating AI capabilities. And for marketers and media players watching India’s digital ambitions, these hiccups matter.

The budget bump for FY25 was positioned as part of the government’s broader tech-forward posture, with focus areas ranging from semiconductors and electronics manufacturing to the IndiaAI Mission and cybersecurity. These, in turn, create the digital infrastructure that supports everything from OTT delivery to programmatic ad measurement, martech platforms, and emerging consumer touchpoints.

So, when these schemes stall, the impact ripples outward. A senior agency planner, speaking anonymously, pointed out that “the PLI-linked chip ambitions were one of the key signals we were watching to assess India’s long-term viability as a marketing tech manufacturing hub. If execution is this patchy, it sends a mixed message.”

In its defence, MeitY said it was now working with more realistic budget projections and conducting weekly scheme reviews chaired by its secretary. But the committee wasn’t impressed. It’s demanding tighter monitoring mechanisms, real-time dashboards for fund utilisation, and a culture of performance metrics.

This comes at a time when India’s broader digital economy (already a ₹7.3 lakh crore advertising and media machine, according to the latest industry reports) is relying heavily on infrastructure-level innovation. The IndiaAI mission in particular was pitched as a foundational layer for safe, scalable, and economically beneficial AI deployment, something the digital marketing industry has a strong stake in.

As more brands demand first-party data ecosystems, advanced targeting, and real-time attribution, the efficacy of the government’s tech rollout isn’t a tangential issue. It’s a structural one.