‘India's Startup Ecosystem among Top 3 Today’: PM Modi At India Mobile Congress

The 3-day IWC is taking place at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre in Delhi's Pragati Maidan. The venue also hosted September's G20 Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday opened the seventh edition of the India Mobile Congress (IWC), a three-day event being held at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre in Delhi's Pragati Maidan, a venue that also hosted September's G20 Summit.

The prime minister also inaugurated 100 5G labs, which include most of the well-known engineering colleges across the country.

In his speech, the PM noted that the ‘future is no longer a decade or a century away, but due to advances in technology, the future is here and now.’ He added that in nine years of his government, India's startup ecosystem has become one of the largest in the world, and is in the top 3.

Today, the country has more than one lakh startups, Modi said.

Recalling the launch of 5G technology in the country – the PM launched it on October 1 last year – he remarked how, within just a year, there are about 5 lakh 5G base stations across the nation

Telecom is ‘gateway’ to Digital India: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Speaking at the event, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw described telecom as the 'gateway' to Digital India, adding that today, the country exports telecom equipment to more than 70 nations.

The minister further noted that the next edition of the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly will be held in the national capital.

Other eminent personalities who spoke at the event were Akash Ambani (Chairperson, Reliance Jio), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Chairperson, Bharti Enterprises) and Kumar Mangalam Birla (Chairperson, Aditya Birla Group).

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

Oct 27, 2023 11:11 AM IST