Time has come to position India as tech powerhouse, telecom manufacturer and exporter

India’s telecom manufacturing under PLI scheme has touched Rs 18,000 crore already, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday urging the industry to look at scaling up the levels by 5-10 times on the back of enabling policies. The minister said that the time has come to position India at the next level as tech powerhouse, telecom manufacturer and exporter.

”How long can we only import and consume? We have to move beyond that…Today, with all your efforts, we have already crossed USD 2 billion worth of telecom manufacturing…Rs 18,000 crore telecom manufacturing under PLI (production linked incentive scheme) itself,” Vaishnaw said at curtain raiser of the India Mobile Congress event scheduled for October 27-29 in Delhi.

Stating that the progress so far is a ”big” milestone, the minister urged the industry to leverage the policy support to chase 5-10 times growth.

India has the capability, he asserted.

Pointing to India’s digital public infrastructure model that has received global acclaim, the minister said, ”We should create a model that if some country wants to adopt India stack, they can do so by adopting a tech transfer model.”

The seventh edition of Asia’s premier digital technology exhibition, India Mobile Congress (IMC), co-hosted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), will be held from 27th – 29th October in New Delhi this year.

CT Bureau