NEW DELHI: Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) organized 21st edition of Bharat Telecom 2024 alongside the ongoing India Mobile Congress (IMC) in New Delhi.
 
More than 70 delegates hailing from 24 countries attended Bharat Telecom 2024. More than 60 Indian telecom companies are showcasing their state-of-the-art products and capabilities at the Atmanirbhar Bharat Pavilion set up by TEPC as a part of this event. The Bharat Telecom is being attended by potential buyers from countries across the globe.
 
While inaugurating the Bharat Telecom 2024 alongside India Mobile Congress, Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal said, “India is all set to become a provider of telecom services and Indian companies will become providers of high security and quality technological equipment to emerging economies.”
 
During his address, the Minister expressed confidence that India in the future will lead international telecom supply chains and urged companies to find solutions to help take telecom to countries still behind in network connectivity. India has a role to play in making technology available in the Global South and in leading the world in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to make digital connectivity affordable across the globe. He added that seamless broadband connectivity across the country has earned India the moniker ‘Trusted Partner of the World’.
 
Shri Goyal also shed his insights on India's stable network connectivity across rural and urban areas as an achievement of the flagship ‘Digital India’ campaign launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2015. 
 
He hailed the Prime Minister’s vision of using technology as an enabler for good governance, for providing business opportunities and as an enabler to expand the country's economic activities. Shri Goyal said that India today thinks as one nation and attributed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of ushering a change in the mindset of the youth and aligning the thought process of the entire country towards the nation’s development.
 
Shri Goyal continued that making the digital push back in 2015 helped in continuation of essential services leading to seamless business activities across the country during Covidpandemic. When countries work with India, they are assured of high quality, affordability and cost effective solutions and are assured of uninterrupted business activities allowing companies to look up to India for their global capability centres (GCCs), he said.
 
He noted that in terms of technological developments in telecom services like innovation, availability of equipment, services and data India is far ahead of developed countries. Of India celebrating World Standards Day yesterday, Shri Goyal said that the government is working towards making India a provider of quality goods and services. Everything that India does will have an imprint of quality defining the India growth story, he said.
 
Alluding to the theme of the event “The Future Is Now”, the Minister said that India is contributing to not only its future but of the world and its offering of digital technologies plays an integral part in bringing the world as one family. He further stated that the entire ecosystem of digitalisation involving machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics has its imprint in India. India is recognised for its innovation, talent and the large market it provides. Innovation defines the India growth story and the world recognises India as a leader in democratising technology for the deprived and the whole world, he said.
 
Shri Goyal praised the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) for instilling confidence in making India self-reliant in technological achievements. He emphasised that India today is a different story as it has been able to launch 5G parallelly with the rest of the world and underlined that the country will be the leader in launching and developing 6G.
 

“India is the second largest telecom market in the world, contributing significantly to the economy and employment. The government has launched several initiatives like ‘Make in India’ to promote foreign investment, which encourages manufacturing and innovation,” said Shri Niraj Verma, Administrator (USOF), DoT, Govt. of India.

In his address, Shri N. G. Subramaniam, Chairman, TEPC said: “India's ICT Sector is a key player in the global digital landscape, marked by innovation, a strong talent pool, and evolving technologies. Over the past few decades, it has expanded from basic telecommunication and software services to include advanced technologies like AI, Big Data, and IoT.” With initiatives like StartupIndia and Make in India, India has fostered a vibrant Startup ecosystem, particularly in FinTech, EdTech, and HealthTech. The sector is poised for significant growth, fuelled by digital transformation and government support, he added.
 
 In his address, Shri Sandeep Aggarwal, Immediate Past Chairman, TEPC said, “The telecom industry in Bharat is the second largest globally, boasting approximately 1.205 billion subscribers and a tele-density of 85.85%.

“Bharat has all the requisite telecom products for any telecom network. All the products are secured & trusted and don t pose any security threat to the country”, Mr Aggarwal added further.