Mobile phone production in India has reached 100 million with leading companies setting up their manufacturing base in the country, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.
"Today, I am happy to announce that in December, Rs 1.14 lakh crore investment has come in electronic manufacturing in India. We have attracted around 15 new mobile plants.
"Earlier in 2014, 68 million (mobile phones) were being manufactured and now 100 million are being manufactured," Prasad said at Global Business Summit here.
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Smartphone sales in India also reached 100 million by the end of December, 2015, he added.
"All the major companies in the world namely Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Nidec, Samsung, Bosch, Jabil, Flextronics, Continental are in India besides all the top Indian companies who are already here," Prasad said.
Indian Cellular Association founder and President Pankaj Mohindroo said that in terms of value, mobile phone production in the country has increased by 95 per cent in the ongoing financial year as compared to the previous fiscal.
"Government has made sincere efforts to boost mobile phone production in the country. The new investment has created 30,000 new jobs in the country and state governments have shown keen interest in attracting these investments," Mohindroo said.
Prasad said penetration of Internet is rising rapidly and increased by 100 million in a year to 400 million, including through mobile phones.
"With God's blessing, I am confident that at this growth rate we will cross 500 million," he added.
The minister reiterated his support for experimentation of new technologies in the country, including that of Project Loon by Google and White space spectrum use for broadband by Microsoft.
"Once the pilot becomes successful, then depending on security concerns, final call will be taken," Prasad said.
He added that India is growing at a phenomenal pace and the government is looking to expand reach of technology through broadband network being laid out in rural India.
"We have scaled up optical fibre laying work by 500 times (compared to work done under previous government)," Prasad said.
The minister lauded the efforts of operators who have built huge telecom networks in the country but asked them to use it optimally for providing good service quality as well.
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Besides spectrum auction, the panel also discussed revival of state-run telecom firm MTNL, plan for enhancing telecom connectivity in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands and Bharat Net project for rural broadband.
According to sources, the Telecom Commission also favoured VRS for MTNL employees aged above 50 years with government support of up to Rs 2,000 crore.
Expenses on MTNL employees are 78 per cent of its total revenue against industry average of 3 per cent.
Around 26,500 MTNL employees are estimated to retire in the next 10 years and under the proposed scheme about 5,300 will be eligible for VRS, which will be open for about three months period from the date of Cabinet approval.
The panel believes that MTNL could save about Rs 500 crore from VRS offering which it can use for improving the quality of service. The TC also approved asset monetisation plan of MTNL like infrastructure-sharing and building rental.
For improving connectivity in A&N islands, the panel has given nod to laying of submarine cable which will cost around Rs 1,000 crore to the government. At present, telecom services in the islands are provided through satellites.
The panel has also approved increasing satellite bandwidth three times for Lakshadweep islands from 100 mbps to 300 mbps.
For Bharat Net project, the panel has approved a plan to connect 1 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband by March 2017 with the help of optical fibre and expeditious purchase of equipment.
For rest 1.5 lakh village panchayats, the commission has approved Wifi-based connectivity through common service centres by September, 2018.
