India's 5G & 6G Rollout: Aiming for Developed Nation Status - DoT Secretary

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) After 5G, India is now gearing up for 6G rollout which will spur the growth that is required to achieve the developed nation status, Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal said on Wednesday.

Mittal said that the government has replaced 150 years old Telegraph Act with a new Telecommunications Act which is expected to stand the test of time for the next 20-30 years.

"5G technology has been already rolled out. We are now planning for 6G. All of them will spur the growth in achieving the developed nation status that we are yearning for," he said while speaking at a public relations industry event Prana.

Mittal said that the race of technology is not going to stop. He said policymakers need to visit global manufacturing hubs in countries like Vietnam and China and get their acts together to replicate the success stories in India.

"I think the 12 (industrial) cities which the government has announced will be able to do that. I think if we can do that in 100th years, at 2047, we will not fail our future generations," he said.

The Union Cabinet last month approved 12 new industrial cities in 10 states to boost domestic manufacturing with an estimated investment of Rs 28,602 crore. The projects have been strategically planned along six major corridors.

These industrial areas will be located in Khurpia in Uttrakhand, Rajpura-Patiala in Punjab, Dighi in Maharashtra, Palakkad in Kerala, Agra and Prayagraj in UP, Gaya in Bihar, Zaheerabad in Telangana, Orvakal and Kopparthy in AP, and Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan.

Mittal said overseas firm have their Global Capability Centres (GCC) in India which are growing 10-12 per cent year.