The public digital infrastructure network that India has built over the past few years, a major achievement for the union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has attracted the attention of the whole world, said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder & Chairman of Bharti Enterprises. The network, envisioned by the government, is also aiding India’s growth now, he said in his address at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) today at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan.
“Today when I meet people across the globe, the question that they ask is how did India convert itself digitally? How can we implement such a digital public infrastructure in our country? Whether it is World Bank, United Nations, WTO, Africa Union, European Union, G20, OECD countries or BRICS, the slogan is the same: the digital public infrastructure that India has built can boost growth in area that are lagging,” said Mittal.
Additionally, the government’s Make in India program, which is aimed at increasing the pace of local manufacturing and growth, has inspired the country’s youth. “I had thought that India would not be able to grow its manufacturing capabilities that it deserves. But now I conceive that local manufacturing is growing at a fast pace. From Apple to Dixon, From Samsung to Tatas, small to large start-ups everybody is now working on to grow local production capabilities. India is increasingly proving to be a world leader in manufacturing, especially from a digital infrastructure point of view,” he added.
Aiding the Prime Minister’s vision of covering every village and town in India with 5G network by March, 2024, Mittal’s telecom arm Airtel is rolling out the service quickly. It has already covered 5,000 towns and 20,000 villages and hopes to cover the entire nation by the deadline set by PM Narendra Modi. In this endeavour, Airtel is betting on satellite connectivity - especially for remote locations like the North Eastern states. Last year, over 70 satellites were launched by the Indian space agency that will further help the mission, said Mittal.