India On Track For US$5 Trillion Economy: Reliance Boss

Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani yesterday said India will prove its cynics wrong by becoming a $5 trillion economy under the leadership of current PM Narendra Modi.

“Under your (Modi) leadership, India will welcome the new decade with supreme confidence. The Indian economy will not only bounce back but will also grow with unprecedented acceleration. India can — and India will — prove cynics wrong by becoming a $5 trillion economy,” he said addressing the inaugural event of India Mobile Congress 2020 today.

India will also be a more equal country with increased incomes, increased employment, and improved quality of life for one billion Indians at the middle and bottom of the economic pyramid, he said.

India has the historic opportunity to become the world’s preeminent digital society with ease of living for all, and this is because of the enormous transformative power of digital technologies, Ambani said.

Giving four reasons for India becoming the world’s preeminent digital society, Ambani said India is a huge market with 300 million mobile subscribers who are trapped in the 2G era.

“India has the historic opportunity to become the world’s preeminent DIGITAL SOCIETY with Ease of Living for all. My conviction comes from the enormous transformative power of Digital Technologies. Permit me, therefore, to briefly present four ideas for your consideration.

“ONE: As many as 300 million mobile subscribers in India are still trapped in the 2G era. Urgent policy steps are needed to ensure that these underprivileged people have an affordable smartphone so that they too can benefit from Direct Benefit Transfer into their bank accounts, and actively participate in the Digital Economy,” he said.

Secondly, in order to maintain the lead of being the best among the digitally connected nations in the world, India needs policy steps to accelerate the early rollout of 5G, and to make it affordable and available everywhere, Ambani said.

JIO will pioneer the 5G Revolution in India in the second half of 2021, which will be powered by the indigenous-developed network, hardware, and technology components, he said.

JIO’s 5G service will be a testimony to PM Modi’s inspiring vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, he said.

Thirdly, 5G will enable India to not only participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution but also lead it, Ambani said.

“Jio Platforms, with its family of over 20 start-up partners, has built world-class capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain, etc,” he added.

“We are creating compelling home-grown solutions in Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Financial Services, and New Commerce. Each of these solutions, once proven in India, will be offered to the rest of the world to address global challenges,” he added.

As the digitalization of the Indian economy and Indian society picks up speed, the demand for digital hardware will grow enormously, Ambani said.

We cannot rely on large-scale imports in this area of critical national need, he said.

“India has developed world-class strengths in chip design. I clearly foresee India becoming a major hub for the state-of-the-art semiconductor industry. When all the stakeholders work together, we can surely ensure that India’s success in hardware will match our success in software,” he went on to say.

Ambani said India is about to step into a glorious decade of its story, with the Digital India Mission playing the role of the principal accelerator.

Nothing can stop India’s rise, not even COVID-19, he said. “This is our chance to create history. Let’s do it! Let’s do it together, under the leadership of our Prime Minister!” he added.

Ambani also said PM’s Digital India Mission has made the country highly resilient in the face of the toughest of adversities.

The outbreak of COVID-19 posed life-threatening challenges, but India’s high-speed 4G connectivity infrastructure has proved to be India’s digital lifeline.

“Throughout 2020, India worked online, studied online, shopped online, received healthcare online, socialized online, played online. Simply put, India thrived online. This underscores the phenomenal evolution of Digital Technology in India,” he said.

From being a means of limited engagement and entertainment, India has evolved into a platform of unlimited enablement and empowerment, Ambani added.

Despite the lockdown, the entire industry consisting of thousands of engineers and employees worked round the clock to provide critical support 24X7 to all sections of the society and business, he said.

The government supported the industry to go the extra mile in keeping the services going during this period, he ended.

This article first appeared in the NFA Post and is republished with permission.