Telecom Ministry gives nod to Rs 6,000 cr ‘Make in India’ project

The Ministry for Communication and IT has given its green signal to Rs 6,000 crore worth projects under the 'Make in India' program.

“The Minister for Communication and IT has said that Rs 6,000 crore worth projects were approved in his ministry under the ‘Make in India’ programme out of proposals worth Rs 20,000 crore that were received,” an official statement here said.

Telecom equipment import is the second largest item of trade deficit. India imports electronic goods worth $100 billion every year which is likely to become $400 billion by 2020. The (electronics) import bill may surpass fuel oil import bill.

At present, India is the second largest smartphone consumer in the world after the US. The government hopes that the ‘Make in India’ program will help to curb increased imports.

Rakesh Garg, Secretary, Department of Telecom, emphasized on the need for frequent exchange of views among manufacturers, service providers, operators, industry and the R&D institutes to find out the shortcomings and ways to address the problems faced.

"We are buying the very same products at higher costs from those countries...research is being done in India, but intellectual property rights (IPR) are with other countries," the minister said on the sidelines of  “Make in India-Telecom” conclave organised by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT),