NEW DELHI : India’s budget for fiscal 2022-23 gave a thrust to its technology sector, with the finance minister announcing a plan to auction 5G airwaves this year, and pushing for the design and wider local manufacturing of telecoms and electronics products.
During a news briefing, Sitharaman declined to speculate on how much revenue the 5G auction would raise.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will also offer incentives to encourage more design-led manufacturing to boost 5G in the country, Sitharaman said, adding that all of India’s villages are likely to be connected by optical fiber for faster broadband services by 2025.
“The finance minister’s announcement around 5G spectrum auction, 100% fiberisation with public-private partnership model will provide an impetus to build ubiquitous and reliable internet connectivity,” said Nitin Bansal, the India managing director at Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST).
That has helped telecoms firms free up cash to invest in growth and expansion, potentially making a 5G airwaves auction this year a hot bidding contest between the country’s three main carriers – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) and Vodafone Idea (VODA.NS).
On Tuesday, India also announced a plan to gradually raise import taxes on some components used in electronic products such as smartwatches and earphones to boost local assembly.
