IT Ministry urges e-commerce players to set up data centres locally, at the earliest

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology   -  PTI

GUWAHATI, AUGUST 13

With India tightening its data security regime, the government recently told e-commerce giants such as Amazon to set up their data centres in the country at the earliest.

“I have emphasised in my meeting with top authorities of Amazon India that they must urgently explore the possibility of setting up their data centre in India,” Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law & Justice, told BusinessLine in an interview here.

The meeting included Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice-President and Country Head of Amazon India. When contacted by BusinessLine, Amazon India declined to comment.

Prasad said this initiative must be taken on a priority basis, as generation of data is integral to e-commerce operations. Therefore, safety, security and element of consent for transborder migration of data are equally important.

“They (Amazon) are welcome to do business in India, as it offers them a good market. But India and Indians are equally concerned about their data,” Prasad said, adding that India is one of the largest markets for Amazon so it should not be reluctant to set up a server here.

He also said that the government is keen that India becomes a centre of data analytics as data analysis can become a big segment of growth, and the huge data generated in India by itself constitutes a big market for that.

Prasad said India traditionally has been empowered by small grocery shop owners in retail business, so e-commerce giants must work in a manner that their interests are not sacrificed. While their warehouses, training of the employees, empowerment of traders in the rural areas are welcome. “In my view, foreign companies are welcome to join the efforts in India... what concerns me is unbridled migration of data, without the consent of Indians,” the Minister said.

Asked whether such concerns will be addressed in the data privacy policy or the e-commerce policy, which are under preparation, Prasad said, “Data as an identity is neutral, but the use of data is determined by the culture, civilisation, heritage and commerce. With the data privacy law being finalised, a lot of concern on this will also be addressed.”

He added that such initiatives will be important for Indian e-commerce companies as well, as the government wants all the companies to compete transparently for better growth of the industry.