Technology will play a crucial role in building Aatmanirbhar Bharat: PM Modi

New Delhi (India): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made a strong pitch for self-reliance in technology sectors, which play a key role in the last-mile delivery of services and have immense potential for job creation.

Addressing a webinar on 'Technology-enabled Development', the prime minister said science and technology was not an isolated sector as it was closely connected with the digital economy and based on advanced technology, which is now focusing on fast delivery and empowering citizens.

Modi said telecommunication in general, and 5G technology in particular, can enable growth and offer job opportunities.

Required spectrum auctions will also be conducted in 2022 to facilitate the roll-out of 5G mobile services within 2022-23, the prime minister said at a webinar attended by representatives of various government departments and from the private sector.

The prime minister emphasized focusing on the manufacturing of medical equipment in which technology will play a key role to meet the demand and supply.

“I assure the Indian startup industry that the government will help them at different stages during 'Make In India' projects right from skill development to manufacturing for a seamless implementation,” he said.

The prime minister noted that even US President Joe Biden had underlined the importance of self-reliance in his state of the union address.

“In the light of emerging new global systems, we must move forward with a focus on Aatmnirbharta,” he said.

The prime minister said Rs two lakh crore worth of Production Linked Incentive schemes have been announced for 14 key sectors to promote manufacturing in the country.

He urged stakeholders to provide practical suggestions in areas such use of optical fibres in the citizen services, e-waste management, circular economy, and electric mobility.

Infrastructure advancement is related to technology, even public delivery systems are being connected to digital platforms. Technology will play a crucial role in building Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), he said.

Modi stressed speeding up efforts to bring in new technology in the communication sector.

The server should be based in India, there should be less dependence on foreign countries. New security angles are getting associated when it comes to the communication sector, the prime minister said.

He said the new initiatives that the government was undertaking needed to focus on 'self-reliance' through technology.

Budget 2022-23 has focused extensively on sunrise sectors like AI, Geospatial systems, drones, semiconductors, genomics, space tech, clean tech among others, the prime minister said.

He said the animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic (AVGC) sector offers immense potential to employ youth.

We need to promote AVGC to build domestic capacity for serving our markets and the global demand, he said.

Referring to the PM-Gatishakti initiative, Modi emphasised the use of technology to build railways, roads, airways, and waterways at a faster pace.

'Make In India' in technology across sectors will bring a sense of security and self-reliance, which is the need of the hour, he said. (PTI)