Union Minister State of Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar has lashed out at the previous UPA Government, accusing it of “destroying the telecom sector with scams like 2G scam,” and said that the sector has seen an “orderly growth” during nine years of Modi Government.
He said the “strong telecom foundation” laid during the Vajpayee Government was dented by the UPA Government. “UPA destroyed the telecom sector. The strong telecom sector, which was set up by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was destroyed with scams like 2G scams. Today after nine years of work by PM Modi-led Government, the telecom sector has orderly grown,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters.
He said India is now the largest connected country.
“We are about 83 crore Indians connected to the internet, we are the largest base on the global internet. We are the world’s largest connected democracy,” he said.
He termed the ten years of the UPA Government as a “lost decade” and said there was a flight of capital.
“The difference between the UPA and the NDA is how in the lost decade there was a flight of capital and a flight of foreign investors. A large number of telecom brands who invested in India had to run away because of corruption, and crony capitalism,” he said.
The minister said because of ease of business now, there is a stable and growing positive sentiment, and there is a rise in investments.
He said lack of focus on quality of service, an ailing state-owned BSNL and the dominance of imported mobile phones hampered the sector’s growth and international investments.
“Foreign investments have been pouring into the country and India has emerged as a major manufacturer of mobile phones, even exporting them to other nations,” the minister said.
“India has made significant strides in 5G technology, seen the second-highest in 5G rollouts worldwide, with a roadmap already in place for the future 6G technology,” he added.
(with inputs from ANI)
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