Telecom Minister Holds Committee Meeting To Strategise Roadmap For Self-Sufficiency

Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia convened with representatives from three out of six committees involving satellite communications and telecom equipment manufacturers.

The aim was to strategise a roadmap for attaining self-sufficiency and international prominence in the sector.

On Monday, the minister emphasised that the meeting with three advisory groups focused on satellite communications, the electronics ecosystem, and original equipment manufacturers aimed to thoroughly explore issues concerning satellite communication, production-linked incentives, and telecom equipment.

Scindia said that the first meeting with advisory groups has been an exercise in detailed agenda setting.

"These advisory groups have been formed with a very participatory environment where we are all team players towards a common goal...to make India Atmanirbhar, as well as to make India a world leader in the communication space as espoused and envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the minister told reporters.

He said that deep analysis were done related to each of the three verticals to chart their growth roadmap.

The meetings were attended by Nokia India Country Head Tarun Chhabra, Samsung President and CEO Southwest Asia J B Park, Cisco System India Managing Director Harish Krishnan, STL Managing Director and CEO Ankit Agarwal, Tejas Non-Executive Chairman N G Subramanium, Viasat India Managing Director Gautam Sharma, and Hughes Communications India CEO, President and Managing Director Shivaji Chatterjee, among others.

The minister said that the next meetings with these advisory groups will be scheduled on different dates, where deliberations will take place on the present status of the verticals and where India can be placed in terms of growth and leadership in those sectors.

"If we agree on that plan then what are the drivers that we need to have in place to be able to deliver on that strategy and from the drivers what are the actionable points both for the ministry as well as for industry to be able to deliver," Scindia said.

Without revealing details of the discussions, he said that the satellite communication advisory group has identified 4-5 issues, which will be discussed in detail with them in the next meeting scheduled for the first week of August.

The minister said that he will meet three more advisory groups—telecom service providers, internet service providers and infrastructure, and academicians and research and development—on Tuesday to have similar deliberations.

(With Inputs From PTI)