Telecom sector urged to build manufacturing capabilities

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 3 December asked domestic telecom industry to help build manufacturing base in India by 2020. This will be required to restrict India’s future imports and balance of payment (BOP) situation.

“We need to act now to avoid a situation where we face difficulties in financing these huge imports. India should have manufacturing facilities which result in a balanced trade in electronic products and are a part of global supply chains,” Singh in his inaugural address at ‘India Telecom 2013’ event said here.

On the Internet penetration in India, he said that though the urban areas are well connected, connectivity in the rural areas is still a concern.

“On a per capita basis, the usage of the Internet is quite low in India. Both the availability and the reliability of Internet services outside the major cities leave much to be desired,” he said. He said the transformative power of the Internet is clearly visible in the lives of a large number of people in India and services such as travel bookings, banking, shopping and education are increasingly being delivered through the Internet.

Singh emphasised that the Government was committed to provide reliable and affordable telecom and broadband services to rural India and called upon private telecom players to come forward.

He said these companies should work with state-owned players with telecom and broadband services, as India’s vast part is yet to be connected with such services to equip it with Internet services.

The Prime Minister also said a scheme to extend financial support from the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund for providing mobile communication services in 56,000 uncovered villages of the country is already on the anvil, including in the North Eastern sector.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/telecom-news/item/3769-telecom-sector-urged-to-build-manufacturing-capabilities.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/telecom-news/item/3769-telecom-sector-urged-to-build-manufacturing-capabilities.html