Indian Government ‘Fairly Ready’ With Consultation Paper on Crypto

The Indian government is "fairly ready" with a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies, a top government official Monday said, adding that organizations like International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been consulted.

The consultation paper is fairly ready. We have gone through a deep dive and consulted not just domestic stakeholders but also organizations like the IMF, and World Bank. We hope we will soon be in a position to finalize the consultation paper

Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Indian Finance Ministry

India looking to be part of global regulations

He added that simultaneously, the government is also beginning work for “some sort of” global regulations as well and what role can India play internationally.

“This point has been made time and again. If you recall, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) in the Sydney conference, had made that point. Thereafter, he made that point on more than one forum. Even other countries are talking about the same thing that we require a global paradigm to deal with digital assets,” Seth said, referring to the Prime Minister’s speech in November last year at the Sydney Dialogue.

In his virtual address at the 2022 World Economic Forum's annual Davos conference, Modi reiterated his position and said “cryptocurrency is an example of the kind of challenges we are facing as a global family with a changing global order. To fight this, every nation, every global agency needs to have collective and synchronized action.”

The Indian government is yet to make public, its stance on cryptocurrencies, causing confusion over their classification if they fall under financial assets or commodities.

The Indian Budget tabled earlier this year proposed a 1% Tax Deducted at Source on all crypto transactions, while a 30% tax was imposed on profits made from crypto sales.