Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the 5G technology in India is completely indigenous, and the country is ready to share its expertise with other countries in the world. Speaking at an interaction with students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the minister, who is in Washington DC to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, said the 5G technology launched in India is completely standalone. “The story (of India’s 5G) is yet to reach the public,” Sitharaman said. “There could be some parts coming from, say, countries like (South) Korea, but (not) coming from somebody else. So [this is] complete indigenous technology that we can now provide 5G [to any country] who wants it… So, our 5G is not imported from somewhere else. It’s our own product,” she added.
Indian telcos Reliance Jio and Airtel have begun rolling out 5G services in selected cities.
Speaking at an interaction with students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Sitharaman emphasised the private companies (telcos) who had made the product (5G) had said most of the country would be able to avail the technology by 2024-end. "On 5G, we can be immensely proud of India's achievement."
About digitalisation, Sitharaman said the progress made between 2014 and 2019 helped India fight the economic crisis during COVID-19. “The push that was given between 14 and 19 actually has helped us, and helped us in very many unbelievable ways. We were able to provide relief immediately during the long lockdown, even as all of us could remain in Delhi and press a button, the money used to go to the account," she said.
She added that people doubted our goals and there were apprehensions in India after PM Modi started the digitalisation of the economy but the initial inhibitions of people is now removed. “There were apprehensions in India after 2014 when we started ramping up the capacity for digitalisation of the economy." Questions were raised "if in India this technology will make any difference at all? Will people be ready to use it?" Sitharaman said adding that people even questioned the investments the Modi government made in these projects.
Talking about how digitialisation has helped India in the last two years, Sitharaman said that India’s public goods are available for countries that need them. The finance minister said the open-source network that the government of India has created is helping small and medium industries to scale up their operations.
She stressed that India is setting global benchmarks on the digital front, hence to some extent there is a sense of confidence in the country that it will be able to face geopolitical and economic uncertainties.
Talking about digital innovation in terms of digital payment, Sitharaman said that India has a digital stack that other countries can use. “So, if India today can talk of a digital stack, it’s not talking of just payment UPI, which is today acceptable in Singapore, UAE, and many other countries," she said.
Talking about other aspects of Indian economy, inflation, and other factors, Sitharaman said the Indian economy is doing good business largely and that the Indian economy's revival is on a sustained path and it will continue to be resilient in the face of a possible global recession. "Because of the global recession, if my demand is going to fall, exports are going to suffer and because of the strong dollar, my Indian rupee would suffer --- all this taken on board --- there is a sense of confidence in India, we will go through this and we will be able to still perform," she firmly said.
Responding to a question on digital innovation and push, Sitharaman said, “There were times when global benchmarks, global standards were the ones which India had to look up to and say we have to catch up to that level. There are still a lot of areas where we still have to learn a lot of things and do according to standards set elsewhere. But on the digital (side), be it payment, identity, health, education, be it also the way in which your compliance requirements are being taken care of, India has actually set standards," she said.