From 6G ambitions to AI's economic impact, Scindia spells out India's digital future at Rising Bharat Summit: Full transcript

Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday spoke extensively about India’s digital future in a conversation with Moneycontrol's Managing Editor Nalin Mehta at the Rising Bharat Summit 2026. From SIM-binding norms and 6G ambitions to satellite communications, telecom tariffs and AI’s economic potential, Scindia outlined the government’s roadmap for technology, security and India’s rise as a global innovation leader.  Here's the full transcript of the interview:

Nalin Mehta:  Thank you very much, Mr. Scindia, for joining us for Rising Bharat and for sparing your time. Let me start with a question that affects all of us with a mobile phone and a SIM card and WhatsApp. There is a guideline coming in force from tomorrow on SIM binding directions — ki agar aap WhatsApp ko apne computer pe kholke dekh rahe hain — so all of us using laptops, computers, phones, toh usmein kuch dino ke baad toh bandh hoga and you have to do it again. So is that guideline, is there any chance of an extension on that and is META going to comply?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: So, first of all, Nalin, it's wonderful to be back at Rising Bharat and News18. It's an event that is always calendarised now. It's almost as if this event has become an institution in itself. So I'd like to congratulate you and Network18 in terms of putting together a very thought-provoking platform for the country as well as globally as India's rise is now being accepted across the globe.

So, let me first start by saying that telecom and mobile technology today is no longer a luxury. If you will, in many ways, it is almost like the blood coursing through our veins. It is the invisible digital highway on which not only communications run, but it becomes in many ways a carriageway on the basis of which commerce, communication, livelihoods and economies across the world run. So, very akin to what happened in the Industrial Revolution, almost over a century ago, where you had the world powers building out railroads and highways. This is what I call in Hindi, the Adrishya Adhosanrachna , the invisible highway, which enables a lot of content to go through it.

Now, when that happens, then there are a lot of economic positive externalities, but there are also some negative externalities that accompany it. And it is our job at the Ministry of Communications to make sure that we have a firewall, if you will, in place that prevents negative externalities from taking advantage of this system, whether it be cyber fraud, whether it be digital arrests, whether it be even beyond that — other nefarious activities, and I won't allude to it, you know what I am talking about from a national security point of view.

And therefore, SIM binding has become the need for the day. Because otherwise what happens is that when you first connect your phone to a lot of these OTT platforms, along with a mobile number, and then if you remove your SIM, those OTT platforms are still very active. But I can't trace who the identity of that person is who is conducting these activities. So if Nalin, for example, conducts those activities and he has removed his SIM from his phone, I cannot trace the identity of Nalin Mehta. And therefore, to be able to do that, SIM binding today becomes mandatory from a security point of view. Now, we have issued a regulation that stands, as I have mentioned in a few interviews before, and we do hope that all service providers come on board, because this today is my fiduciary responsibility to 140 crore Indians, which I cannot stray away from.

Nalin Mehta:  So, Mr. Scindia, you said that India followed the world on 4G, walked with the world on 5G, but will lead the world on 6G. What do you mean by that? And say with the tech stack, for example, how do we compare with other countries, especially with China, for example?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: So India has — let me back up a little bit. When I graduated from Harvard and I came back to India as an investment banker, many, many moons ago, the first transaction we looked at was in those days, early 90s, when licenses were given out for those six metros for mobile. And India in many ways has followed the world on mobile technology, whether it be GSM or then 2G or then 3G and even 4G. 5G was the first time when technology across the world was promulgated, and India actually had the fastest rollout of 5G in the world. We rolled out 5G across the length and breadth of India in 22 months. We talked about four and a half lakh crores of capex, close to 500,000 BTS, base transceiver stations, colloquially known as mobile towers. And today we have almost ubiquitous connectivity on 5G, close to 99.9 percent of districts are connected. You'll be surprised to know that today out of the 120 crore customers on mobile in India, 40 crore have already transferred onto 5G networks. So we have almost close to 35 percent of our market today on 5G. And my projection is that by 2030, that's going to grow to 100 crore customers, which means exactly what I said, that we walk with the world on 5G.

Now, we intend to lead the world on 6G. What does that mean? That means that when telecom technology is promulgated or standards are set, that is set by a world body called the ITU, the International Telecom Union, or 3GPP. And when those standards are set, then international countries that are world leaders sit at that round table — for example, in front of me — cogitate, and based on their ideation, come up with a set of standards that all other countries, for example, everyone else in this room will follow. But on this table are the standard setters.

India has never been on this table. And it's for the first time with regard to 6G that the Prime Minister set the vision in 2023, and he set the goal that Bharat 6G Alliance, which is a group of companies, entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists from IITs across the country, telecom service providers, ISPs, telecom equipment manufacturers — the whole value chain is a part of the B6G Alliance. And we have grown from initially 15 members to over 100 members today. We have alliances with similar 6G platforms across 30 countries across the world, from UK to US to Brazil to Africa to all across the world. And so therefore, we are working on a global alliance. And India, for the first time, is sitting on that table where standards are getting set for 6G.

And for the first time, our proposal of ubiquitous connectivity to every single citizen across the globe as a paper has been admitted and accepted as part of the 6G standard setting protocol on that table. We propose to have contributed 10% of patents towards 6G. So India today is no longer following. India today is no longer walking. We're on that table, setting the standards along with other stakeholders for the world as 6G gets rolled out over the next three to four years, which is a huge transformation for India.

Nalin Mehta: When do we expect SATCOM services to be in effect, like Starlink or OneWeb or GeoSat?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: So satellite connectivity is, if I may say IS mandatory. As Communications Minister, it is my job to ensure that every single citizen in my country has the full bouquet of services in front of him or her to choose from. And that means not only 4G, 5G technology, that means not only broadband, that means not only VSAT, that also means satellite, because satellite can go where no other technology can go. So where it is very difficult terrain, you cannot lay the OFC fiber, you cannot have backhaul, you can't have fiberization of towers — that's where satellite takes over. Two, God forbid, but in the case of natural calamities, when all of the systems go down, satellite is the only system that stays up. And therefore, for me, it's mandatory to have this technology in India.

Now we've given out three licenses, as you know, to OneWeb, to Geo and to Starlink. All three companies have also been given a normative spectrum assignment to be able to show compliance with regard to all the security protocols that are required. All three companies are working on that today. Now that is on their table. As far as government is concerned, because spectrum is going to be given by assignment and not by auction, we have to come up with a spectrum price. TRAI has just reverted with their recommendations, DOT will synthesize those recommendations and come out with their decision on it. And then we will announce the spectrum pricing. When both of these happen — one responsibility on the side of the satellite operators and one responsibility on our side — when both of them converge, operations will start very soon thereafter.

Nalin Mehta: One of your cabinet colleagues, Mr. Vaishnav, yesterday spoke about how media companies should get a fair share from big tech companies for content. There's a similar demand on fair share in a very different way from the telecom companies — for fair share from companies like OTT platforms and Netflix and so on. What's your view on this?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: So that's not something that's under my mandate or my ambit. This is something that has to be decided by MeitY. And I do not believe in either interfering or commenting on what is not my domain. In life, Nalin, I've been very clear — I'm very fixed in terms of what is my area of mandate and to be able to execute to the satisfaction of both my ecosystem constituents and the public of India to be able to get the best performance out of a system that's there. I do not believe in straying outside my domain.

Nalin Mehta: So on the telecom operators demanding a similar thing, right?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: That's something that MeitY has to decide on and not telecom.

Nalin Mehta: So after the relief to Vodafone, there are demands from Bharti Airtel, for example, to seek parity. Are you considering any relief for them? And what is the status, sir, of the committee to review the dues for Vodafone?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: So we have, as you're aware, we have a 49% stake in Vodafone now with the conversion of the AGR dues, which goes to about 38,000 crores. We have also followed the Supreme Court verdict and executed on that. And I think things look quite promising as far as Vodafone is concerned. But let me be very clear, we are an equity holder. Now, when you're an equity holder, that does not mean that you are in management. We are in management vis-à-vis BSNL. And I can speak to the strategy of BSNL and how we're changing things around and bringing that mothership around and making sure that she serves the people of India and she is a profitable enterprise. As far as Vodafone is concerned, we are a minority shareholder at 49%. We do not believe in increasing our stake beyond 49%. It is for the management of Vodafone now to be able to chart their course going forward. As far as other telcos are concerned, I've been very categorical on this. In the case of Vodafone, the decision was taken by the Supreme Court. And if there are other telcos that want to follow suit, they must follow the same route.

Nalin Mehta: Mr. Scindia, do you believe with the telecom industry — do you think it needs another round of tariff hikes for growth and investments? What's your sense?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: As you're aware, telecom is a sector which is in forbearance. Tariffs are not announced by us. It is for the telcos to determine their strategy in terms of pricing. As you're aware, this is a very inelastic market in terms of pricing. We have a very — this is a country where high volume is the key to growth. And it's for them to be able to chart that path. Suffice to say that India has shown the world how you can permeate technology right down to the grassroot level. When you have 120 crore telecom subscribers, 1.2 billion telecom subscribers, when internet subscribers go from 250 million 12 years ago to a billion today, when broadband subscribers — which is greater than 2 GB — go from 60 million to a billion today, that kind of exponential growth, you're looking at a CAGR of over 30, 40 percent per year, also results for the consumer in a very steep decline in prices. So 11 and 12 years ago, voice used to cost 50 paise a minute. I can convert that into cents. Today voice costs 0.03 paise a minute. I can't even convert that into cents. So for all practical purposes, it's free. Data 12 years ago used to cost 287 rupees a GB, which is roughly 3.2 dollars. Today, 1 GB of data costs in India less than 8 rupees a GB, which is less than 10 cents. The world average is 2.49 dollars. So India is operating at 5 percent of world costs with a billion subscribers in place. Now that's the secret recipe of India's success. And within that ambit, each company has to decide a strategy.

Nalin Mehta: So we just had the AI Impact Summit, which led to a huge amount of announcements and Delhi was put at the center of the world AI map. But we also had Congress storm troopers attacking it, shirtless protests. What's your sense, as a former Congressman, now in the BJP, what's your sense of how the Congress is approaching this right now?

Jyotiradtya Scindia: I think it's an unmitigated disaster. The Global AI Impact Summit was not an NDA program. It was not a BJP program. It was Bharat's program. And you had delegates from 160 countries in the world. You have 26 heads of state visiting India. Because everyone realizes that India is the next growth potential for the world — from a human resource angle, from an innovation angle, from a capability angle. And on that platform, if you're going to exhibit it, exhibit the vacuousness of your Deshbhakti, then good luck to you. Because the people of India have rejected you multiple times. And even at Bharat Mandapam, which is where we are sitting, when that absurd exhibition took place, it is the people in that arena that took these protesters down.

Nalin Mehta: So what's your message? 

Jyotiraditya Scindia: And I think that if you are so negative in your perception… 

Nalin Mehta: So what would your message be to Rahul Gandhi?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: I have nothing to say to him. And I don't think anyone in this audience has anything to say to him either.

Nalin Mehta: So Rahul Gandhi is talking about the tariff deal, things about India being sold out, all of that. How would you respond to that?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: If you are so anti your own country in your mind, then I don't think this country has any place for you.

Nalin Mehta: Mr. Scindia, one final question — when do we expect the next round on telecom or on spectrum auctions? When do we expect to see that?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: TRAI has come out with their recommendations just a few days ago. Based on those recommendations, we will proceed to look at what the appetite for demand is. And shortly thereafter, we shall take a view and if there is an appetite for demand, come around with another round of spectrum auction.

Nalin Mehta: Let me ask you one more question. You also said on record and you recently argued that AI could contribute somewhere around 950 billion dollars to India's GDP by 2030. How would that happen and what is your view on the big fear that jobs will fall?

Jyotiraditya Scindia: So what's going to happen with AI is my belief, putting on my hat as an economist and less of that of a politician, is that you will see what, from an economic perspective, has been the concept of creative destruction. And you had creative destruction many times during humankind's history. You had it when, post the Second World War, when technology assumed significance again. You had it in Y2K. You had it in COVID, when there was a huge suppression of time where digitisation just pole-vaulted. And AI is going to be another inflection point. And unlike what a lot of sceptics say, I think it's going to create more opportunities than extinguish them. There is going to be a huge amount of intellectual opening up for creativity across multiple sectors, from manufacturing to services. And that's where I believe now India is poised to take the lead.

The Prime Minister with his AI mission, close to about 2 lakh crores, looking at setting up — and I, in my generation, and I'm sure you'd agree with me, I never thought that we'd be setting up semiconductor fabs in India. And you've got a multiple amount of fabs that are being today set up in India. So what India is setting herself up for, and this is what Prime Minister saw 12, 15 years before this has happened, is that the next revolution is going to come from technology. And we have to move — i.e. India has to move — from being a services nation to a product nation. And that's only going to happen when the whole value chain of the ecosystem is going to be set up in India. 

So all the way from chips and semiconductors to LLM models, to making sure you productise on the telecom equipment side, which is why we've got our own India 4G stack now with BSNL. So India is positioning herself for this new revolution that is already on the anvil. And I believe that that is what is going to move us to the forefront, and India is going to become what she was almost 2000 years ago, where she contributed 25% of the world's GDP. As an Indian citizen today, I have great confidence that by 2047, we will be leading the world on the stage in terms of contribution to GDP, an economic giant. And not only that, I believe that we will be a philosophical giant in terms of creating Vasudeva Kutumbakam and that prosperity for all notion for countries across the world.