Communication Sector Saw Over 7% Growth During Pandemic: Ravi Shankar Prasad
Bengaluru: Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the communications sector witnessed a growth of over 7 percent during the Covid pandemic and received significant investments from major global companies like Google and Amazon.
“Even during the pandemic, the Communications sector witnessed a growth of over 7%. It also received significant investments from major global companies,” he said at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020.
He said the major global and Indian mobile phone manufacturers during the Covid pandemic have invested close to Rs.11,000 Lakh Crore for manufacturing phones worth Rs 10.50 Lakh Crore in the coming five years.
“We decided to convert the pandemic time into an opportunity. The global manufacturing world was looking towards alternative destinations and we brought out the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme.
I am happy to share that major global and Indian mobile phone manufacturers have invested close to Rs.11,000 Lakh Crore and have committed to manufacture phones worth Rs 10.50 Lakh Crore in coming five years,” he said at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020.
As many as 22 domestic and international firms, including iPhone maker Apple’s contract manufacturers as well as Samsung, Lava, Dixon, and so forth, have lined up with proposals for mobile phone production.
Under the Protection-Linked Incentive scheme, as many as 12 lakh jobs are expected to be created – 3 lakh direct and 9 lakh indirect employment opportunities, in the country.
Indian companies, including Lava, Dixon Technologies, Bhagwati (Micromax), Padget Electronics, Sojo Manufacturing Services, and Optiemus Electronics, have also applied under the scheme.
Ten companies have filed applications under the Specified Electronic Components Segment.
The companies that have applied for components production of around Rs 45,000 crore include AT&S, Ascent Circuits, Walsin, Sahasra, Vitesco, and Neolync. There were no applications from Chinese companies under the scheme.
Prasad said the union government wants to encourage AI in a very big way and stressed the importance of AI encouraging the inclusion of India and empowerment of India in the field of agriculture and delivery.
AI must also not ignore the ethical values of India because human minds and their values and emotions are equally important, he said.
During the lockdown, the government had relaxed norms for promoting work from home, but have relaxed those norms permanently.
“This reform measure will promote the IT-BPM industry, Gig economy and work from anywhere in India,” he said.
India’s IT workforce has been working from home since March this year, but call centers and other BPO providers were struggling to cope with the new normal.
The “work from anywhere” model will create more jobs in the months to come which would enable technology professionals to source jobs from countries around the world, Prasad said.
