Mukesh Ambani urges PM Modi to end data colonisation
Gandhinagar, Jan 18: Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to end increasing "data colonisation" by global corporations, saying Indians should own and control their own data.
Speaking at the 9th Vibrant Gujarat Summit here, Ambani drew parallels to Mahatma Gandhi's movement against political colonisation to call for a revolution against data colonisation.
"Data is the new oil (in the new world order). And data is the new wealth. India's data must be controlled and owned by Indian people - and not by corporates, especially global corporations," the Reliance Industries chairman said.
The comments come amid a debate over balancing user protections with support for the fast booming digital economy. Foreign giants and hundreds of home-growth startups have flourished amid a dearth of regulation.
"Today, we have to collectively launch a new movement against data colonisation. For India to succeed in this data-driven revolution, we will have to migrate the control and ownership of Indian data back to India - in other words, Indian wealth back to every Indian," he said. "Honourable Prime Minister, I am sure you will make this one of the principal goals of your Digital India mission."
This is the second time within a month that Ambani has backed Indian authorities' efforts to get companies to store data locally.
The government wants companies doing business in India to store all customer data locally. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2018 ordered companies to store the "the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them... in a system only in India" so as to ensure "unfettered supervisory access" for "better monitoring".
The government is considering a draft data security law that requires data centres for all companies be physically located within India. Also under consideration is an e-commerce policy that requires the storage of customer data in the country.
The draft data privacy bill recommends restrictions on the transfer and storage of information by global giants from Facebook to Google.
An e-commerce policy last month tightened rules to disallow foreign-owned online retailers from pushing merchants to sell exclusively through their platforms. It also barred them from selling products via companies in which they own equity.
Ambani, who had himself supercharged internet adoption by helping crash data prices with the launch of his telecom venture Jio in 2016, had last month in Mumbai stated that "data colonisation is as bad as the previous forms of colonisation."
He is also planning to create an online-to-offline platform that would take on the likes of Amazon and Walmart, which are both betting big on India's e-commerce market.
Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit Friday, he outlined plans for his online shopping platform.
Without giving timelines, he said Jio and Reliance Retail, which has over 9,000 stores across 6,500-plus towns in the country, will launch "a unique new commerce platform to empower and enrich our 12 lakh small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat - which are part of over 3 crore community in India."
Ambani had previously spoken of leveraging the Jio network for launching some sort of an e-commerce venture.
Jio has over 280 million subscribers with internet access.
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West Asia conflict: PM Modi takes stock of fuel, power, fertiliser supply
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed with senior ministers the situation related to crude, gas and other petroleum products, and power and fertiliser sectors in view of the evolving West Asia situation.
Government sources said the focus of the meeting was on ensuring uninterrupted supply, stable logistics and efficient distribution across the country.
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Defence), Amit Shah (Home), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Agriculture), S Jaishankar (External Affairs), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), J P Nadda (Health), Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry) and Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways) were among those who attended the high-level meeting, sources said.
Union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal (Ports and Shipping), Manohar Lal Khattar (Power), Pralhad Joshi (Food and Consumer Affairs), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation) and Hardeep Singh Puri (Petroleum), NSA Ajit Doval and the prime minister's two principal secretaries, P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, were also present.
The situation related to crude, gas, petroleum products, and power and fertiliser sectors was reviewed in view of the evolving West Asia situation, the sources said.
The government is taking proactive steps to ensure an uninterrupted supply of all essential goods, including petroleum products, they said.
The meeting took stock of the current global situation in the wake of the West Asia conflict and the measures taken to protect consumer and industry interests, which is the key focus of the government, the sources said.
On March 12, PM Modi had said that the war in West Asia has triggered a worldwide energy crisis, posing a critical test of national character that requires dealing with circumstances through peace, patience and increased public awareness.
The prime minister emphasised that his government is working relentlessly to address disruptions that have emerged in international supply chains.
"Continuous efforts are also underway to determine how we can overcome the disruptions that have occurred in the supply chain," Modi had said.
The prime minister has spoken to many global leaders since the West Asia conflict started on February 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Iran has retaliated by targeting Israel and several of its Gulf neighbours.
Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route through which 20 per cent of the world's energy is transported. Since the conflict, very few ships have been allowed by Iran to cross it.
The blockade has resulted in severe disruptions in energy supply to many countries, including India.
Since the conflict, Modi has had telephonic conversations with leaders from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, France, Malaysia, Israel and Iran.
