Davos 2023: Pan-India 5G rollout by March 2024

The parent of Bharti Airtel Ltd. intends to complete the rollout of 5G services across India by March 2024, said the company’s vice chairman Rajan Bharti Mittal on Wednesday.

While the nation is at the forefront of digitization push on the back of its India Stack, Bharti Enterprises Ltd. is growing in the telecom space with a focus on 5G rollout, Mittal told BQ Prime on the sidelines of World Economic Forum summit in Davos.

“We are encapsulating a whole lot of industries through our telecom. Our job is to make sure that 5G is rolled out as quickly as possible,” Mittal said. “We are already rolling out at a speed, [where] by December 2023, March 2024 we’ll be covering the entire country. We are being a facilitator for many things that are going to come into play.”

‘Indian Manufacturing On The Right Path
Geopolitical developments, especially the friction in the U.S.-China relationship have put India in a sweet spot to explore avenues to bolster its manufacturing sector, Mittal said.

“I have to give credit to the Government of India, which is really trying to put the emphasis on manufacturing. If we can bring five-ten big boys out of China—they’re already started coming in, we have seen the Apple store, we’re seeing other stories—you will see the momentum growing in the favor of India,” said the Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman.

‘Expect Budget To Bring Tax Cuts For Telecom’
Primary on Mittal’s wishlist for the upcoming Budget 2023 is relief from taxes being levied from the telecom sector.

“Telecom sector, in particular, is very highly taxed sector… as the prime minister has very rightly said, in the coming future, digitization for the country in every aspect will matter. If that is to happen, you cannot have an industry that is at the forefront of digitization be taxed so heavily,” he said. Bloomberg