India now a global destination for local production, exports: Sunil Bharti Mittal
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu) : India has become a place where you produce locally, use locally and even export locally, Sunil Bharti Mittal, who heads India’s second largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel, said here on Monday, adding that a lot of companies from the country are now emerging on the global stage. India currently provides high-quality mobile signals to 95 per cent of its people, owing to the digital transformation the country has seen in the last decade.
According to Mittal, we are significantly superior to the US, the UK and Europe regarding the quality of mobile networks. Speaking at the flagship NDTV World Summit 2024, Mittal said the good thing is that India's money is welcomed on the global stage, unlike our neighbours. “China's investments are being blocked, while Middle East sovereign funds are seeing stronger filters. The Western world prefers private investment. You are seeing GMR airports globally, Adani going global, and the like,” said the telecom leader.
On Spectrum, he said the future rests on digital infrastructure. “We will build infra similar to Singapore and Japan right here in our country. Policy predictability is required for all investors. In the last decade, we have seen more stability, and regulations have simplified," Mittal noted. All industrial players know that consumption is going to rise in the country, he mentioned. “The government is encouraging massive investment in infrastructure. Airtel spends Rs 30,000 - 35,000 crore in digital infrastructure," said Mittal. On AI, Mittal said it will be the most important driver of economy, politics and geopolitics. “However, there will be misuse of AI as well, we will have to be more vigilant. Nation states will have to come up with guardrails,” he told the gathering.
"India is the ray of hope amid the global crisis. There are challenges in front of India but we are feeling a sense of positivity here and that is why we are discussing the India Century," the Prime Minister added. Earlier, during his address at the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he aimed to make India's century as the world's century. "We need stability and sustenance for growth and India is working on it. Our third term gives a message of stability. Initiatives taken by India are a solution towards world problems. We would aim to ensure that India's century is the world's century," the PM said.
