Draft Data Centre Policy

MeitY has drafted a Data Centre policy to benefit the Data Centre park developers/Data Centre operators as well as the allied ecosystem of Data Centre sector. The policy intends to ensure sustainable and trusted Data Centre capacity within the country. This policy framework shall be followed by a detailed scheme with implementation guideline document providing the particulars of various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to be provided to the sector by the Central and State Government. Download The Policy document. Pl send your inputs and feedback within 15 days to:- uma.chauhan@meity.gov.in, cmo@meity.gov.in.

Promote indigenous technology development, research and capacity building 

5.4.1 Promote local manufacturing

 5.4.1.1 Promote and encourage use of indigenous hardware (IT as well as non-IT equipment) and software products used in the Data Centres, thereby reducing the overall import burden of the country. 5.4.1.2 Extend fiscal incentives to domestic start-ups and MSMEs to develop solutions for Data Centre usage.

5.4.1.3 Incentivize global equipment manufacturers to set up manufacturing units of IT/ Non-IT components in India, catering not only to local demands but also for export purposes. 

5.4.1.4 Strengthen the testing and certification framework for the Data Centre ecosystem, including for the IT and non-IT equipment and software products pertaining to Data Centres operations.

 5.4.2 Encourage joint ventures between the foreign investors and domestic companies to promote participation from Indian companies, in the development of Data Centres. This would enable long-term capacity building of the domestic companies operating in this space. 

5.4.3 Promote R&D in Data Centre ecosystem 

5.4.3.1 Promote setting up of R&D units to create an ecosystem that will promote development of Data Centre components within the country. 

5.4.3.2 Promote technology firms to produce innovative products and services for the Data Centre ecosystem and facilitate their commercialization for sustainable growth.

 5.4.4 Promote Adoption of Established Global Standards

 5.4.4.1 MeitY shall publish and mandate minimum standards for Data Centres / Data Centre Parks in the areas of build, IT, non-IT and security. 

5.4.5 MeitY to promote global adoption of services from state-of-the-art Data Centre infrastructure available in India, through various inter-governmental initiatives / MoUs. 5.4.6 Capacity Building and Human Resource Development 

5.4.6.1 Collaborate with Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and leading academic institutes to impart large scale trainings to workforce on Data Centre, Digital and Cloud technologies, and facilitate sector linkages for such trained workforce. 

5.4.6.2 Promote skill development and upgradation initiatives aimed at addressing the skill gap of trained manpower to be able to meet the demands of Data Centres and Cloud Computing Platform. Data Centre Policy 2020 DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION Page 12 of 16 

5.4.6.3 Provide assistance for these programs through Skill Development Mission at National and State Level. 

5.4.6.4 Design programs for continuous capacity building amongst government officials and personnel on Data Centre and cloud technologies, data classification, storage policies, data security and other allied technologies.

Non-Personal Data (NPD) Governance Framework

The Committee of Experts on Non-Personal Data (NPD) Governance Framework, constituted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released its Report on July 12, 2020. The Report purports to be a framework for governance of NPD, meant to grant access to NPD to industry players and the government for overarching public purposes. In order to increase the competitiveness of local and small enterprises and spur innovation, the Report is aimed at mandatory sharing of data to create economic advantages that are currently precluded due to data monopolies of a few dominant players. 

The Committee has defined three categories of Non-Personal Data – 1) Public Non-Personal Data 2) Community Non-Personal Data & 3) Private Non-Personal Data.  The Committee has also defined a new concept of ‘sensitivity of Non-Personal Data’, as even Non-Personal Data could be sensitive from the following perspectives – 1) It relates to national security or strategic interests; 2) It is business sensitive or confidential information; 3) It is anonymised data, that bears a risk of re-identification  The Committee recommends that the data principal should also provide consent for anonymisation and usage of this anonymized data while providing consent for collection and usage of his/her personal data.

Download report: https://static.mygov.in/rest/s3fs-public/mygov_159453381955063671.pdf