New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced that the central government will set up 100 laboratories to develop applications using the newly launched 5G services – such as those related to smart classrooms and intelligent transport systems.
“One hundred labs will be set up for development of applications using 5G services in engineering institutions to realize a new range of opportunities, business models and employment potential. The laboratories will include applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems and healthcare, among other things,” Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget 2023-24.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that “With 5G labs, our youth will be able to study and understand and develop new products and use cases. In the next two-three years, India will become a major exporter of telecom products from being an importer 10 years back.
The Finance Minister also announced customs duty relief on import of certain mobile phone components, which is expected to bring down the cost of these devices while promoting value addition in domestic manufacturing.
“As a result of various initiatives of the Government including phased manufacturing programMobile phone production in India has increased from 5.8 crore units in 2014-15 worth about Rs 18,900 crore to 31 crore units worth over Rs 2,75,000 crore in the last financial year.
“To further deepen domestic value addition in manufacturing of mobile phones, I propose to extend customs duty relief on import of certain components and inputs such as camera lenses and continue concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for one more year.” propose,” she added.
According to the budget document, 2.5 per cent basic customs duty on camera lenses and inputs/parts used in the manufacture of mobile phone cameras has been removed.
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‘Focus on increasing digitization’
Sabyasachi Mazumdar, Senior Vice President and Group Head, Corporate Ratings at ICRA said the budget was the Centre’s focus on creating a strong digital infrastructure to enhance digitization across sectors, which is good for the telecom industry as it Results are likely to come. Increase in usage of telecom services and revenue generation for telecom companies.
“The announcement to set up 100 labs for indigenous development of 5G based use cases opens up an array of opportunities and business models to develop applications around smart classrooms, precision farming, healthcare etc,” he added. Told.
“The Revised Estimate (RE) of non-tax revenue from communication services (telecom sector) for FY23 was about Rs 68,700 crore, higher than the Budget Estimate (BE) of Rs 52,800 crore. Also, the BE for FY2024 is Rs 89,500 crore, which is higher than ICRA’s estimate, and there is likely to be another spectrum auction in the next fiscal year,” he said.
The non-tax revenue from the communication sector mainly relates to receipts on account of license fee and spectrum usage charges from telecom operators.
“Revenue realization in telecom is consistent. It (showing) good growth. It is a growing industry and this is reflected in the higher revenue receipts that have been earmarked in the budget,” Vaishnav said.
According to the budget document, the government has allowed an expenditure of Rs 1,08,153.25 crore for the communication sector in 2023-24, which is about 28 per cent higher than the budget estimate of Rs 84,586.80 crore for 2022-23.
The Department of Telecom has budgeted to infuse Rs 52,937 crore into Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) amid efforts to revive telecom PSUs. For the current financial year, the budget estimate for capital inflow into BSNL was Rs 44,720 crore, which was later reduced to Rs 33,269.01 crore in the Revised Estimates.
was in the center July 2022 Rs 1.64 lakh crore package approved for revival of BSNL. In 2019 as well, the government had approved a package of around Rs 70,000 crore for the revival of BSNL and MTNL, while also giving in-principle approval for the merger of the two entities.
(Editing by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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