New Delhi, 08 Oct:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India is marching towards a future where products and their designs will be developed in the country, while the underlying technology and intellectual property will also belong to the country. Addressing the 10th edition of the India Mo-bile Congress (IMC) here, PM Modi said the country has moved beyond being merely a consumer of technology and is now rapidly emerging as a creator and innovator. 

The Prime Minister said the transformation underway in the telecom sector is being driven by a combination of reforms, domestic manufacturing, technological development and intellectual property creation. He said the government is modernising decade sold laws, introducing incentives and implementing regulatory reforms to strengthen India’s position across the telecom value chain. 

“India is marching towards the goal, where the product and design will be made in India, and its technology and IP will also belong to India,” PM Modi said. He pointed to the Telecommunications Act and the Gati Shakti portal as examples of re-forms aimed at creating an enabling environment for the sector.

 According to the Prime Minister, the “reform express” in telecom is moving rapidly as India seeks greater technological self-reliance. PM Modi also highlighted the country’s progress in semiconductor manufacturing, saying commercial production is already underway at five locations. 

He said the next phase of the India Semiconductor Mission will focus on localising the entire semiconductor supply chain, marking another step towards strengthening India’s domestic technology ecosystem. 

“In the last 10-12 years, the mobile phone has emerged as a vital tool of good governance, serving as the absolute core of the Digital India vision,” asserted PM Modi. The Prime Minister said India’s telecom journey has evolved significantly over the past decade. 

Recalling the launch of 5G at the India Mobile Congress in 2022, he said 5G net-works have now expanded to more than 5.5 lakh base stations and reached every district of the country. He added that internet speeds have increased tenfold.