Calcutta: Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy on Monday called for clarity on issues ranging from individual privacy to legal frameworks.

He also stressed the need for Indian companies to develop products and applications themselves as the government focuses on a major digitisation drive.

Debroy, who is also the chairman of the economic advisory council to the Prime Minister, was speaking at a meeting organised by the Calcutta Management Association and the All India Management Association in association with The Telegraph.

"India is still a relatively poor country. Poverty can be interpreted in different ways. One definition of poverty is people are poor because they had no access to information. Obviously Digital India removes that asymmetry of information and enables to leapfrog and catch up much faster," said Debroy.

He, however, said that even as the Digital India initiative benefits the citizens and business, it may not necessarily benefit Indian technology companies.

"Digital India is obviously very good for citizens and business in the sense of improving governance. Is it necessarily good for companies that are in this business? How many Indian companies have produced products and applications in regional languages," said Debroy.

India remains a major importer of electronics items with imports growing 17.54 per cent between April and July 2018 over the corresponding previous period.

Debroy also highlighted issues of privacy, access to personal data and the need to have legal framework to deal with rising digitisation.

"There is an issue of privacy and it is not only about Aadhaar. It is true that all of my health records can now be unified on a stack so that I can access it wherever. Who owns that? If it is my data, I should have the right to use that data and no one else should have the right to access that without my authorisation," said Debroy.

"The third problem is in the area of law," Debroy said. He cited instances like identifying a responsible legal entity in cross-border issues in case of accidents by self driving cars.

Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhatt, who delivered the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Memorial Oration, said retail stores are crucial in delivering experience even as digital means of purchase are gaining popularity.