India is targeting the rollout of the 6G telecom network, which will provide ultra-high-speed internet connectivity, by the end of the decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday. India currently has 3G and 4G telecom networks and companies are gearing up to launch 5G over the next few months.

Modi said it was estimated that the 5G network rollout will add USD 450 billion to the Indian economy.

"This is not just increasing internet speed but also the pace of development and creating jobs," he said, adding the 5G technology will bring positive change in the governance of the country, ease of living and ease of doing business. It will boost growth in agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and logistics, he said.

Connectivity, Modi said, will decide the progress of the country in the 21st century and so modern-day infrastructure needs to be rolled out, PTI news agency reported. According to the prime minister, a task force has started work on rolling out 6G network by the end of the decade.

Teledensity and internet users are fast expanding, Modi said, adding that mobile manufacturing units in India have expanded from just 2 to over 200 and the country is now the world's biggest mobile manufacturing hub.

Modi also said that his government has encouraged healthy competition that has led to India having one of the cheapest telecom data charges in the world.

An indigenous 5G test bed in the telecom sector is an important step in India's self-reliance, he added. Modi inaugurated the country's first 5G testbed to enable startups and industry players to test and validate their products locally and reduce dependence on foreign facilities. The testbed has been set up at a cost of around ₹ 220 crore (over 280 mn USD)

Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI, Modi said the 5G testbed is an important step for self-reliance in the direction of critical and modern technologies.

The 5G testbed has been developed as a multi-institute collaborative project by eight institutes led by IIT Madras. In the absence of a 5G testbed, startups and other industry players were required to go abroad to test and validate their products for installation in a 5G network.

The other institutes that participated in the project are IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT).

(SAM)