The Ministry of Communications and IT has approved Rs 60 billion worth of projects under the ‘Make in India’ programme. The ministry had received proposals worth Rs 200 billion under the programme. The ministry has further stated that there is a need for frequent exchange of views among the stakeholders including manufacturers, service providers, operators, industry and the R&D institutes to identify the shortcomings and ways to address the problems faced.
India is at present the second largest smartphone consumer in the world after the US. However, the country is heavily dependent on imports and to address this issue, the Make in India programme was launched. Presently, research in the field of telecom equipment and solutions is being done in India, but intellectual property rights (IPR) are with other countries. The Ministry is therefore of the view that there is a need to make a mechanism to interact with the industry before developing technology or a solution rather than post-development.
