5G Testbed to Digitise Indian Economy, Boost Startup Ecosystem: Piyush Goyal

India is providing necessary impetus to the Digital sector and it has already started reaping coveted results. Digital India drive has become the bedrock for next-generation India. Underscoring that the nation was moving towards transparent and effective governance, Indian Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal noted that the nation has moved transparently from 2G/3G to 4G and now 5G.

5G will contribute $450 billion (roughly Rs. 34,94,900 crore) to the Indian economy in next 15 years and the launch of indigenous 5G testbed will be milestone towards Aatma Nirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) in telecom. It will help in digitising the economy, boosting Startup ecosystem, improving governance, ease of living and ease of doing business in the country, he added.

The minister also congratulated India's telecom sector watchdog Telecom Authority of India for completing 25 years.

Nearly 400 comprehensive GIS-based maps already prepared under PM GatiShakti National Master Plan. This digital push has opened up various investment opportunities abroad for India.

Goyal emphasised that the revolutionary PM GatiShakti initiative would help solve the problem of haphazard development of infrastructure in the country and will help us build a secure, sustainable, scalable and collaborative approach towards infrastructure planning.

PM Gati Shakti is the National Master Plan for Multi-Modal connectivity to various Economic Zones.

The aim of Atmanirbhar Bharat is to make the country and its citizens independent and self-reliant in all senses. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi further outlined five pillars of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat - Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand. The Finance Minister further announces Government Reforms and Enablers across Seven Sectors under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

The government took several bold reforms such as Supply Chain Reforms for Agriculture, Rational Tax Systems, Simple and Clear Laws, Capable Human Resource and Strong Financial System.

Speaking of the remarkable progress made by the telecom sector in the last few years, especially with regard to bridging the digital divide, Goyal expressed confidence that Information Technology and last mile digital connectivity will have an impact on every sector and would be the foundation of India's growth story in the years to come. He added that Digital India would form the foundation for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.

Digital connectivity had played a crucial role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic by enabling quick and easy access to health infrastructure and other support systems world over.

Referring to the giant strides that India has been taking in the field of Telecom and Digital Technologies, Goyal opined that the government had infused new energy in the telecom sector with the Panchamrit of Reach, Reform, Regulate, Respond and Revolutionize in the last eight years. These principles, he said, defined the work done by the government in the last eight years to re-energise this sector.

The minister noted that the efforts made to successfully take connectivity to every last village in the country was a testament to the sensitivity of the government towards bridging the digital divide to ensure that no citizen remained deprived of their ability to connect with the world.

Applauding the regulators for creating and preserving a stable policy ecosystem, the Minister said that it had helped protect both telecom companies and consumers. He noted that one of the lowest number of complaints received by the Department of Consumer Affairs was in the telecom sector.

The minister opined that the launch of Digital India and JAM Trinity (PM GatiShakti National Master Plan) was a watershed moment in the history of the country and said that it revolutionized the way public services were delivered to the common man. He added that the JAM Trinity helped take the fruits of technology to the common man, bringing down transaction costs, eliminating middle men, leakages and corruption from the system.

The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. In order to transform the entire ecosystem of public services through the use of information technology, the Government of India has launched the Digital India programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

JAM Trinity refers to the government of India initiative to link Jan Dhan accounts, mobile numbers and Aadhaar cards of Indians to plug the leakages of government subsidies.