Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlight the progress made in India’s telecom sector

New Delhi: Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia pushed for the establishment of a special telecom manufacturing zone modeled after special economic zones on Tuesday while also highlighting the advancements achieved in India’s telecom industry.

Following the installation of one lakh BSNL towers nationwide and the advancement of 5G technology, Scindia said in an interview with the media that the manufacturing zone is the next phase.

According to him, the government had two choices for implementing the 4G system for BSNL: either hiring foreign equipment or developing an in-house solution. However, the government decided to go with the more difficult alternative.

“We were presented with two choices when the issue of BSNL’s 4G system deployment came up. First, we use equipment from other sources to set up the system. Second, we might go the challenging route and build a 4G telecom stack and gear from the ground up with the assistance of Indian businesses,” the communications minister said.

India is now the fifth nation in the world to have its own 4G system, which he praised. stating that the government would gradually begin using the 5G technology with a software update after one lakh BSNL towers are installed.

“I can now declare with pride that the Government of India firm C-Dot has successfully developed the core 4G system, and Tejas Networks, a division of TATA, has also developed RANs, towers, and BTS and is a system integrator like TCS. Thus, Indian nations have developed a comprehensive domestic 4G solution. India is the sixth nation in the world to have a smart 4G system.In addition to working on 5G in the nation, we will now attempt to roll out 4G and export this technology,” Scindia said.

“We will also gradually launch the 5G system with an update to software and BTS in those towers when BSNL has one lakh towers installed nationwide by April or May of next year.The telecom manufacturing zone is the third stage. “A manufacturing zone for the telecom industry should be created as SEZs are created,” he said.

Additionally, Scindia emphasized the role that manufacturing plays in the industry’s expansion and said that the government has taken major action to support the telecommunications sector under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat agenda.

With approximately Rs 4000 crore spent, 42 enterprises have benefited from the productivity-linked incentive (PLI) programs, according to the Union Minister. An extra Rs 65,000 crore in income, Rs 13,800 crore in export earnings, and almost 25,000 new jobs have been created as a result of these initiatives.

“The telecom industry relies heavily on manufacturing. We must become an Atmanirbhar nation, as Prime Minister Modi has always envisioned. Many significant actions were performed for the telecom sector based on this idea. The PM also started productivity-linked incentive programs for this industry. Nearly Rs 4000 crore has been invested in this area under PIL initiatives, and 42 enterprises are now using these.

As a result, an extra Rs 65,000 crore in income was produced. Exports and the creation of almost 25,000 new jobs have come from this, about Rs 13,800 crore,” he added.

The expansion of the Indian mobile phone manufacturing sector was also highlighted by Scindia. He said that India is now the world’s second-largest producer of mobile phones, producing 33 crore devices yearly compared to its earlier production of 5 crore.

According to the minister, the nation’s vigorous push in the telecom equipment industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership are to blame for this accomplishment.

“It has grown to become the world’s second biggest mobile maker, while producing just 5 crore mobile phones and importing over 90% of our phones.Thus, in a nation that formerly produced only 5 crore mobile phones, 33 crore are being produced. Accordingly, PM Modi has spearheaded this shift, and we are now making rapid progress in both the public and private sectors of the telecom equipment industry,” the telecom minister said.