Salient features of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s 77th Independence Day address on giant strides India has taken in Electronics and IT Sector

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Nation from the Ramparts of Red Fort in New Delhi on the auspicious occasion of 77th Independence Day. Along with other remarkable achievements the proud Nation achieved in this wonderful journey, he also talked about how the technological landscape has been completely changed in the last one decade. He even emphasised the importance of a digitally empowered India.

1. In his address, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi highlighted that  the policies of the government are providing support to the youth of the country and their strength has helped India become the third largest startup ecosystem in the world
2. Shri Narendra Modi emphasizes digital innovation in India and highlighted the remarkable transformation in India's digital landscape. He also highlights the success of Digital India in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
3. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi noted that during his recent visit to Bali for the G20 Summit, world leaders quizzed him about the intricacies of the  Digital India success story. He was quoted as saying by a news agency, "Last year at G20 Summit in Bali everyone, including the developed nations, wanted to know of the success of digital public infrastructure. And I said that whatever India has done it is not limited to Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata but in tier-2 and tier-3 cities youth are also making a lot of impact in various fields...there is a courage of conviction in the smallest cities of India...and villages as well,"
4. Shri Narendra Modi highlighted that the India is moving ahead with multiple capabilities toward modernisation. From renewable energy to hydrogen energy, India is moving forward. While our capability in space is rising, we are swiftly finding success in deep-sea missions, he added that from increased internet penetration across villages to quantum computers, India is moving ahead.
5. The Prime Minister acknowledged the critical role that technology plays in shaping the future. From space to deep sea missions, Vande Bharat trains, electric buses, metro trains, villages getting internet, and semiconductor manufacturing -- we are working in every sector. India is moving towards its aims. This government inaugurates the projects for which it lays the foundation. We aim big and far.

Progress so far:

The Digital India programme was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on July 01, 2015 with an aim to transform India into a knowledge-based economy and a digitally empowered society by ensuring digital services, digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging the digital divide. The programme is coordinated by MeitY with the Ministries and Departments in the Central and State Governments partnering it in their respective domain areas. The Ministry of Electronics and IT through the Digital India Programme has given a special focus on supporting start-up industries in the country; for attracting investment in semiconductors and strengthening the semiconductor ecosystem in the country, Quantum computing, Digital Public Infrastructure, etc.

1. Initiatives and measures to promote technology led startup-innovation ecosystem in the country:
2. Technological Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) is handholding and nurturing more than 2000 technology startups as well as augmenting capacities of selected 51 technology incubation centres to spur innovation and create economic wealth. Under the scheme, 920+ startups have been onboarded across 51 Incubation Centres.

2. SAMRIDH Scheme to support existing and upcoming accelerators to select and accelerate potential product-based start-ups to scale. So far, 22 accelerators across 14 states and 12 cities have been supported under the SAMRIDH Scheme.

3.  A total of 42 Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in diverse areas of national interest have been initiated for driving self-sufficiency and creating capabilities to capture new and emerging technology areas.

4. In addition, a nodal entity to interconnect tech startup infrastructure pan India a ‘MeitY Start-up Hub' (MSH) has been set up under MeitY as an Independent Business Division (IBD) with a consolidation of over 3365 startups, 482 incubators, 424 mentors which has successfully conducted 143 challenges in different technology areas encouraging development of innovative products / services to address current and pressing challenges.

5. Recently, Government has approved an umbrella program ‘Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS)’ with a budget of 490 Cr for 5 years to discover, support, grow and make successful startups in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

2. BPO Promotion Scheme

Under the Schemes viz. North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS) and India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS), 246 units have setup BPO/ITES operations distributed around 100 small cities/towns covering 27 States/UTs of the country providing direct employment to over 52,000 persons.  No new application is being invited. However, committed liability under funded projects and any new approval, based on already received proposals, will be supported in these Tie2/3 cities.

3. Semiconductor

Modified Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India:

In order to widen and deepen electronics manufacturing and ensure development of a robust and sustainable Semiconductor and Display Ecosystem in the country, Government approved the Modified Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India with an outlay of Rs. 76,000 crores. The programme aims to provide attractive incentive support to companies that are engaged in silicon semiconductor Fabs, Display Fabs, Compound Semiconductors/silicon photonics/sensors, semiconductor packaging and semiconductor design.

The Government of India has approved the proposal of Micron Technology Inc. on 14.06.2023 for setting up a semiconductor unit in India with capital investment of Rs. 22,516 crore (2.75 billion dollars). This manufacturing facility of Micron will manufacture DRAMs, Flash memories and Solid-State Devices.

Applied Materials Inc. has announced a planned investment of $400 Mn. to establish Collaborative Engineering Centre in Bangalore. During the initial 5 yrs. the center would support $2Bn+ of spending and create ~500 advanced engineering jobs.

Under Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme, 103 organizations have been selected for chip design & fabrication support via ChipIN Centre as well as financial support for next 5 years for designing semiconductor chips for various applications. This will result in generation of 85,000 manpower at B.Tech, MTech and PhD level specialized in VLSI/ Chip design area.

New curriculums have been launched at UG, Diploma level as a step towards creation of Talent pool in Semiconductor domain. These courses at Diploma and UG level will drastically reduce the time gap to make students industry ready.

India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has signed an MoU with Purdue University, to enable collaboration for development of skilled workforce (through curation of specific courses/ academic programs), specialized R&D programs, collaboration for funding/ grants support.

Lam Research, USA, Semiconductor Equipment Manufacture has announced to train 60,000 workforce in the next 10 yrs. through its Semiverse Solution virtual platform in collaboration with Indian academic institutions, aiming to expedite India's semiconductor education and workforce development goals.

As a step towards international research collaboration, MeitY and National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. has initiated the joint research program with joint projects in different applied research areas such as semiconductors, next generation communication, cyber security, sustainability and green technologies and intelligent transportation systems.

4. Quantum computers represent the future of computing for the next generation. Operating on the principles of quantum mechanics, quantum computers revolutionize computing capabilities and offer unprecedented computational power. Government focuses on the research and development of Quantum Computer and Quantum Cryptography. Government launched quantum simulator (QSim) for the developing skills in Quantum programming of researchers/students/professional. A Centre of Excellence in Quantum Technologies with the sophisticated infrastructure has also been setup to provide impetus on the research in this niche technology area.

5. R&D projects in the areas of 5G and 6G

1. MeitY had taken the initiative in 2015 to conduct R&D in 5G and Building Next Gen Solution for Indian Market with a research grant of Rs 33 crore for a period of 03 years at premier academic and R&D institutes of national importance (various IITs and IISc) leading to many firsts in India in the field of communications

2. MeitY has initiated a project “Next Generation Wireless Research and Standardization on 5G and Beyond” in July 2021 with an outlay of Rs 95.81 crore for a period of 03 years with the objective to conduct collaborative research in the broadband wireless communication areas leading to standardization of 5G and beyond technologies by utilizing the expertise available in the country from premier academic institutions and organizations like CEWiT (Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology, a not for profit autonomous research society of IIT Madras set up by MeitY), IISc Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Madras.

3. MeitY has initiated another project “Indian Open Source Software Platform for an end-to-end 5G Networks (IOS-5GN)” to create a complete Open-Source 5G software platform (IOS-5GN) in August 2023 with an outlay of Rs19.99 crore for a period of 02 years. The project is being implemented by IISc Bangalore, IIT Delhi, CDAC Trivandrum.

4. The 6G End-to-End Communication System in November 2022 with an outlay of Rs19.99 crore over a period of 3 years: The project is being implemented by IIT Hyderabad. The emphasis is on 6G IP creation in the form of Patents and Proof of Concepts (PoC)

5. The 6G: Sub-THz Wireless communication with Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRS) in November 2022 with an outlay of Rs 29.97 crore over a period of 03 years: The project is being implemented by IIT Madras and SAMEER Kolkata. The focus of this project to develop and demonstrate a fully functional 6G high speed communication link incorporating various subsystems at 140 GHz.

6. Other Major Initiatives of MeitY

• More than 135 crore Aadhaar Cards have empowered residents, especially the poor and vulnerable, to seamlessly avail the benefits of government services. DBT (Direct benefit transfer) through Aadhaar has enabled the Government in providing financial benefits directly to the citizen’s bank account by removing fictitious beneficiaries. 
• Pradhan Mantri Gramin Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) the World’s largest Digital Literacy Programme has trained more than 6.1 crore citizens in rural areas and has empowered the citizens by making them digitally literate.
• DigiLocker is enabling people to store, share and verify their documents and certificates through cloud thus eliminating the use of physical documents. Around 18.38 crore users are using the App and 622 crore documents are available.
• Unified Mobile Application for New Age Governance (UMANG), a single mobile App, has brought government services to the finger tips of the citizens of India. More than 5.48 crore users are using the App and availing around 1,718 services of Central and the State Governments available on the App.
• eHospital, a one-stop solution for connecting patients, hospitals and doctors , facilitates Aadhaar based online registration and appointment for patients without standing in long queues. More than, 1,000 hospitals across India have been enabled with the eHospital facility.
• Jeevan Pramaan has eliminated the requirement of physical presence of the pensioner at the government office to avail the service. More than 7.18 crore Digital life Certificates have been generated.
• National Scholarship portal (NSP) has become one-stop solution for various services starting from student application, application receipt, processing, sanction and disbursal of various scholarships to Students. More than 100 Scholarship schemes of Central/State Government are available on NSP Portal.
• MyScheme, a service discovery platform, enabling citizens to easily discover eligible schemes based on their demography. So far, 972 schemes of the Central and State/UT Governments have been hosted.
• Meri Pehchaan, a National Single Sign-On (NSSO) platform, has been launched to get rid of using multiple credentials for multiple applications or services. Through the platform, now, one can access multiple online applications or services through single set of credential only. Currently, around 3700 services of various Ministries/States are integrated with NSSO.
• It is our endeavour that economic and social development is supported by multilingual Internet. Government is now providing facility of Internet in local languages also. India is the only country globally that has got the (.) Bharat domain in all the 22 official languages.
• To further mitigate the language barrier, Bhashini, an AI enabled national language translation platform has been launched by ensuring the access to internet for citizens who do not know English. As on date, 1000+ pre-trained AI models for language translation in 10 Indian languages have been made available on the Bhashini platform
• The success of the Public Digital platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, Digilocker, UMANG, Jeevan Praman, etc has been phenomenal. These platforms not only facilitated “Ease of Living” but also empowered the lives of common citizen. These initiatives have truly actualized the spirits of “Maximum Governance and Minimum Government” principle. India is now poised to internationalise the India’s most significant contribution to the Digital world. In this regard, India Stack Global has been initiated to showcase the India Stack and its building blocks globally. At present, 12 key projects/platforms namely Aadhaar, UPI, Co-Win, API Setu, DigiLocker, AarogyaSetu, GeM, UMANG, Diksha, E-Sanjeevani, E-Hospital, and E-Office are made available at the portal of India Stack Global available in all UN languages. Government endeavors to augment India Stack Global with more digital public goods and offer these solutions globally.
• India has witnessed an unprecedented growth in electronics manufacturing sector. New Policies and Schemes, such as, Production Linked Incentives (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing and IT Hardware, Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components & Semiconductors (SPECS), Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) etc has created a conducive environment for domestic electronics ecosystem to flourish by providing fiscal incentives to industry.  As a result of government initiatives and industry’s efforts, the domestic production of electronic goods increased substantially from Rs 3,88,306 crore (USD 60 billion) in 2017-18 to Rs 8,25,000 crore (USD 102 billion) in 2022-23 growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.2%.

• To support Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the ecosystem for Supercomputers is being created under National Super Computing Mission. The indigenous components, such as, Rudra Server Board, Trinetra Network card, Software stack, AUM HPC processor have been developed. Till date,18 Super Computers have been deployed across the country with a total computing capacity of 24 Peta Flops.
• Due to highly disruptive nature of Technology, it is essential to continuously upgrade through skilling and re-skilling. FutureSkills PRIME programme is providing a platform for IT professionals to upgrade their skills in emerging technologies like AI, Big Data, AR/VR, Blockchain etc.

Source: PIB