Minister of State for IT Rajiv Chandrashekhar on Thursday said satellite communication is emerging as an important part of India’s ambitions to increase quality internet access across the country.
For India’s growing clout in the digital economy and global technology landscape, satellite communications hold vital relevance, the minister said while speaking at the India Space Congress 2022.
“Our target is to have 1.2 billion Indians by 2025-26 directly connected to the Internet through their devices, and … the role of satellite communications and the space segment is an inherent part of this,” Chandrashekhar said.
At times, wireless technology may have limitations and “satellite is clearly emerging as an important part of the blueprint of delivering quality internet to all citizens and enterprises of India,” he said.
Therefore, satellites and space will be critical in the overall mission of ensuring the delivery of the Internet and the goal of connecting people to the digital economy.
India’s tech economy has evolved from IT services oriented into innovation, startup segment, consumer technology, fintech and additional sectors such as e-commerce.
“We have a momentum that makes us competitive with the rest of the world in terms of scale and quality and size, and innovation and applications that our startups are building. But our focus is now also on the nuts and bolts of the Internet, the underlying electronics, technology, devices and products that power the Internet,” the minister said.
The space and satcom sectors are going to offer interesting and important use cases that will catalyze startups, and the development of devices and electronics.
The minister said that India is an island of peace in an otherwise turbulent, turbulent global environment where many countries are grappling with inflation and post-COVID era issues.
He said India has carefully navigated the storm to emerge as the fastest growing innovation ecosystem in the world, attracting high FDI inflows.
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