Govt to invest $20 Bn in ICT sector by 2010

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 14 December 2007, 02:57 IST
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New Delhi: The Union Government will invest $20 billion in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector by 2010, to boost up the growing telecom industry said Union Telecom Minister A Raja He was addressing the inaugural session of India Telecom, 2007. "In the telecom manufacturing itself there has been a commitment of more than two billion dollars and we expect fresh commitment of about another two billion dollar in next one year." These investments will contribute significantly to employment generation and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, he added. The minister stressed on the need for achieving equitable and sustainable growth by taking the benefits to the common people. The government's decision is to provide support mobile telephony and broadband services from USO fund will open up the vast and untouched market in rural areas of the country which comes about 70 percent of whole population with aspirations to join the mainstream of the country and share the growth story of urban India in the ICT sector. The government has also taken steps to create an environment for innovation through establishment of seven telecom Centres of Excellence in premiere technological institutes of the country in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode taking all stakeholders on board.