80% of equipment used in 5G roll-out is made in India: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology

Almost 80 per cent of the equipment used in 5G rollout was made in India said Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on October 27. He also added that India-designed and manufactured telecom equipment is exported to 72 countries.

Vaishnaw, who was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress in Pragati Maidan said, "Secondly, there are so many companies, which have started design and manufacture in India and today they have become exporters of equipment. India-designed and manufactured telecom equipment is exported to a total of 72 countries today."

Vaishnaw, while stressing on ensuring quality in telecom products said that India-made products were competing with global markets in terms of quality.

“We are competing on equal terms (in quality) with the best manufacturers in the world," he said.

He said that companies were designing and developing intellectual property in India. Vaishnaw said that IPR in the telecom sector has a value of 40-50 per cent. "That is why our focus is on that fact that design ecosystem grows," he said.

Semiconductor manufacturing and talent pool

Vaishnaw while stressing that India will be successful in becoming a major semiconductor manufacturing hub, stressed on the availability of a large talent pool in the country.

Vaishnaw referred to an internal study that MeitY conducted as part of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and said that some of the most complex chips were being manufactured in India.

"Our earlier estimate of the talent pool in the Indian semiconductor ecosystem was 50,000. However, we have done a detailed survey, and we found that 1.20 lakh engineers were designing chips," he said.

DPDP Act and implementation

The government in August passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Act in Parliament. However, the act has still not been implemented yet.

The industry has been waiting for the rules of the DPDP Act to be released for consultation, as well as requesting the government for an extended period for the implementation of the bill.

On October 26, the Asia Internet Coalition urged the government for 12-18 months for the implementation of specific clauses of the DPDP Act, which they said would require additional infrastructural changes.

However, Vaishnaw on October 27, made it clear that the government is not inclined to give that timeline for extension.

"Why should people ask for so much time for data protection? Practically the entire industry is attuned to it given that the GDPR, Singapore Data Protection Act and so on are in effect," he said.

Rules of the DPDP Act and Data Protection Board

On the rules for the DPDP Act, Vaishnaw said that draft rules are ready and will soon be released for consultation.

If the DPDP Act in its current form provides a framework for the legislation, the rule-making process will shape its contours. For instance, the Act states that the government will list several countries where data cannot be transferred. The rule-making processes will define on what basis a country can be "blacklisted".

"The rules have been drafted. We will soon put the draft out for public consultation. Simultaneously, the digital architecture for the Data Protection Board (DPB) is being made," Vaishnaw said.

"Once the rules have been notified and approved, they have to be placed before the Parliament. And after getting the Parliament's approval, we will roll out the DPB," he added.

CSAM and social media platforms

On a question on the prevalence of CSAM on social media platforms, Vaishnaw said, "The idea that a platform is a platform and has no responsibility for the content, that idea cannot be unfettered, unlimited. Platforms will have to be responsible for what they are publishing. That stage has come. The entire world opinion is in that direction. Entire society needs a method by which people, who are using social media platforms can navigate the social media in a very safe way.”

Vaishnaw also informed that almost every notice that is sent by the government to platforms on various violations such as CSAM content and so on has been complied with. “Practically every notice the government has issued, all the platforms have followed. Almost 100 percent compliance is there," he said. "