India to invest additional $13 billion in optical fibre grid, says IT Minister Vaishnaw

New Delhi, 15th July 2023: Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology stated, India wants to invest an additional $13 billion in creating an optical fibre grid across the country to increase connectivity and give affordable internet to everybody. This project has already received $8.3 billion in government funding, pushing the total to far over Rs 1 lakh crores.

Vaishnaw has stated his concerns about the dominance of a few large digital corporations, emphasising the need for an alternative model to promote the democratisation of technology and fair access for all. To combat this, he stated that the government is aggressively working on programmes and establishing local core technology.

Vaishnaw told CNBC-TV18 on the margins of the ongoing G20 Conference on Crime and Security in the Age of NFTs, AI, and Metaverse that technology has been “cornered” by a few large tech companies, which is not the correct model for a changing society. He stated that an alternative is required to democratise access to technology.

Vaishnaw said, “We are worried about a monopoly of tech companies and the power of few big tech companies.”

To avert this problem, the Indian government is developing basic technology for several platforms such as UPI, the Unified Payments Interface, and Cowin, Vaishnaw explained.

The government intends to lessen dependency on external sources and stimulate domestic innovation by developing indigenous core technologies.

One of the minister’s success stories was the expansion of the UPI platform. Ashwini Vaishnaw disclosed that the annualised quantity of UPI transactions had surpassed $2 trillion.

Recognising the significance of connection, Vaishnaw discussed the government’s investments in expanding the coverage of 4G networks across the country. A whopping $4.8 billion has been set aside to “saturate the country with 4G coverage,” allowing more citizens to benefit from high-speed internet connectivity.