Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that the 5G Telecom spectrum auction will be held in 2022 and the network will be rolled out in 2023. With this, all villages in India will be connected via optic fibres by 2025 to enable affordable broadband. As India completed 100 years of independence the Budget will aim at the blueprint for 'Amrutkaal' (2022-2047).
"5G technologies provide growth opportunities. Hence, required spectrum auctions to be held in 2022 to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022-23, by private telecom providers. A scheme for design-led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong 5G ecosystem as part of the Product-linked investment (PLI) scheme. To enable affordable broadband services, contracts for laying optical fibres in all villages will be awarded through the Bharat Net project in 2022-23. Completion is expected in 2025," said Sitharaman.