5G Network in India

India’s is the second biggest smartphone market in the world, leading to a

meteoritic rise of data consumption — from 20 million terabytes in 2017 to 55
million terabytes in 2019. India consumes more than 11 GB/user/month — the
highest in the world. Further, we continue to add broadband subscribers every
month.

Opportunities or Strengths for 5G in India

 Potential Investors

Many big market players are ready to heavily invest in the 5G network
implementation in India. Heavy and increasing demand for the 5G has enabled
inflow of high amounts of capital for the investment in this sector. It is expected
that city/ state authorities will partner with investors/ operating companies/
TELCOs to help build shared infrastructure through different business partnering
approaches.

 Efficient Data Service

5G has the potential to become the world's predominant LAN and WAN
technology over the couple of decades, especially in green-field rollouts.
Organisations building new factories, ports, or campuses can significantly reduce
their usage of wired connections. The next five years will likely see a boom in
private 5G implementations at locations that would greatly benefit from better
wireless technology-in terms of speed, capacity, latency, and more.

 Demand for 5G in India

The existing broadband technology falls short to meet the soaring demand owing
to lack of adequate infrastructure. 5G has enormous potential to accomplish the
various gaps of the existing 4G LTE technology like low mobility speed, high
latency and capital intensive deployment. 5G has high data speed, which improves
mobility and user experience.

Weaknesses and Threats for 5G in India

 India lacks in Fibre Infrastructure-

Optical Fibre plays a key role in the implementation of any new generation of
network. For the implementation of 5G in India role of Fibre is very important.
It plays a key role in delivering increased data capacity and improve voice
calling quality. Due to lack of Fibre infrastructure, India faces poor quality of
service and call drop issues which indicate towards country’s low investment in
Fibre and backhaul infrastructure. Only 20% of towers in India are backhauled
compared with 80% in countries like US, China, and Korea focus more on
making policy that gives importance to Fibre deployments

 Lack of Regulatory bodies in India’s Telecom sector

From the advancement of Broadband over last decade, the telecom sector in India
missed good chances in formulating a uniform broadband strategy for India. 5G
needs a proper strategy for its implementation and with lack of regulatory bodies, it
seems impossible for India to achieve in near future. According to the report of
World Bank, the implementation of 5G in India will accelerate the economic
growth of India by 13.8%. Apart from lack of policymakers, India’s telecom sector
is greatly affected by the procedural delays and their multiple issues. Companies
who faced loss in 2G spectrum scam have clearly left a lesson for other telecom
companies to not invest in India for any future projects. 5G implementation in
India will not be in reality until there is a proper regulatory body which will
develop the roadmap for 5G in India.

 Low speed of Data and High Rates

Low speed of Data and high rates in India is also a major issue for deployment of
5G in India. Currently, India ranks at 89th position out of 147 countries in terms of
average internet speed with 6.5mbp/s. For downloading large sized files like HD
videos, games high data speed is required which is not uniform available in India.
The data rate requirement for 5G is 1TBPS but India has only 6.5mbp/s average
internet speed this is due to lack of Fiber infrastructure and last mile connectivity.

Artificial Intelligence and India

 AI is the branch of computer science concerned with developing machines
that can complete tasks that typically require human intelligence. With the
explosion of available data expansion of computing capacity, the world is
witnessing rapid advancements in AI, machine learning and deep learning,
transforming almost all sectors of the economy.

 India has a large young population that is skilled and eager to adopt AI. The
country has been ranked second on the Stanford AI Vibrancy Index
primarily on account of its large AI-trained workforce. Our leading
technology institutes like the IITs, IIITs and NITs have the potential to be
the cradle of AI researchers and startups.

 Machine Learning-based deep-learning algorithms in AI can give insights to

healthcare providers in predicting future events for patients. It can also aid in
the early detection and prevention of diseases by capturing the vitals of
patients.

 As AI works for digital inclusion in India, it will have a ripple effect on

economic growth and prosperity. Analysts predict that AI can help add up to
$957 billion to the Indian economy by 2035. The opportunity for AI in India
is colossal, as is the scope for its implementation. By 2025, data and AI can
add over $500 billion and almost 20 million jobs to the Indian economy

Strenghts for AI in India

• Digital assistants to be used by several highly advanced organizations to
communicate with customers, saving the need
for human resources.

• Together with other innovations, organizations can use AI to make machines take
decisions faster than an individual and perform actions faster.
 • In almost every area, AI powers several inventions that will help humans
overcome the majority of complex issues.

• Trade and Development agreement to operate together to leverage the power of

cutting-edge technology to improve and expand trade, such as AI and blockchain.
Additionally, companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon are trying to achieve the
government’s needs of cloud computing and machine learning. Private companies
will rush to win big contracts, add to the stream of funds to create innovative
technology, and establish new AI and data scientific startups as the Indian
government pushes for digital transformation and introduces more AI initiatives.

2. Challenges for AI in India

• India has a comparatively small number of researchers in the field of machine

learning and research production.

• India has very little local awareness of the latest knowledge that is being
generated by others each day.

• Given the existing and potential possibilities, Indian businesses have been
reluctant to accept AI.

• Despite the number of available standard packages, India does not have sufficient
qualified personnel to apply machine learning to its own challenges and data.
• In its capacity to handle challenges, current AI strategies are minimal, and they
will have to develop to deal with the complexity of life in India.

Conclusion

India’s unique challenges and aspirations, combined with the

advancement in AI, and a desire to assume leadership in this nascent
technology means India’s approach towards AI strategy has to be
balanced for both local needs and greater good. The way forward for
India in AI has to factor in our current strengths in AI, or a lack thereof
and thus requires large scale transformational interventions, primarily
led by the government, with private sector providing able support.
Global Social and Cultural Environment

 India offers astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life.

Diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and
caste groups crosscut Indian society, which is also permeated with immense
urban-rural differences and gender distinctions. Adding further variety to
contemporary Indian culture are rapidly occurring changes affecting various
regions and socioeconomic groups in disparate ways. Yet, amid the
complexities of Indian life, widely accepted cultural themes enhance social
harmony and order.

 Current State of India -India’s emerging global position is not determined

by its history; nevertheless, history makes India’s breathtaking multiplicity
as well as many of its presentday developmental challenges understandable.
India’s economic growth has accelerated thanks to the liberalization of the
centrally controlled and planned economy which the government launched
in 1991. India’s economic policies, in turn, are inseparable from its history.

 POLITICAL TRANSITIONS
One of the key dilemmas of governing modern India has been how to
arrange and regulate the relationships between the Central Government and
states. When India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947, it
adopted British democratic parliamentarianism combined with Soviet-style
planned economy, which strengthened the power of the Central
Government. Economic reforms of the 1990s marked a shift towards
decentralization as individual states were largely freed from the economic
regulation of the Central Government.

 POLITICAL ALTERNATIVES
Critics argue that economic reforms have harmed Indian democracy by
subjugating the political domain to global economic forces. Reforms have,
however, also decentralized power by increasing the power of provincial
states. The liberalization of television broadcasting has facilitated
expression of opinion and the airing of conflicts. In addition to the many
local parties which have increased their influence in parliament and the
 Central Government, there are alternatives to the Congress Party as the pan-
India party such as the Left and Hindu Nationalist Party (BJP).

 POPULATION GIANT
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population
Division (2011) has estimated that after 2028 there will be more people
living in India than in China. In the census of 2011, the total population was
1.2 billion. Population growth has become slower in the last few decades
(currently at 1.64 percent annually), but when we are dealing with large
numbers like these, the annual increase is huge, about 17 million.

Global Economic Environment

 India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world
and is expected to be one of the top three economic powers in the world over
the next 10-15 years, backed by its robust democracy and strong
partnerships. Though, India needs to increase its rate of employment growth
and create 90 million non-farm jobs between 2023 and 2030's, for
productivity and economic growth according to McKinsey Global Institute.
Net employment rate needs to grow by 1.5% per year from 2023 to 2030 to
achieve 8-8.5% GDP growth between 2023 and 2030.

 Current state of India -India is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal

GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). According to
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on a per capita income basis, India
ranked 142nd by GDP (nominal) and 124th by GDP (PPP) in 2020.

 Recent developments-With an improvement in the economic scenario, there

have been investments across various sectors of the economy. In 2020, the
total deal value in India stood at ~US$ 80 billion across 1,268 transactions.
Of this, M&A activity contributed ~50% to the total transaction value.
Private Equity–Venture Capital (PE-VC) companies expanded from US$
36.3 billion (1,012 deals) in 2019 to US$ 39.2 billion (across 814 deals) in
2020.
 Government Initiatives energising the Indian economy through a
combination of short-term, medium-term, and long-term measures.

 In November 2020, the Government of India announced Rs. 2.65 lakh crore
(US$ 36 billion) stimulus package to generate job opportunities and provide
liquidity support to various sectors such as tourism, aviation, construction
and housing. Also, India's cabinet approved the production-linked incentives
(PLI) scheme to provide ~Rs. 2 trillion (US$ 27 billion) over five years to
create jobs and boost production in the country.

 Numerous foreign companies are setting up their facilities in India on

account of various Government initiatives like Make in India and Digital
India. Mr Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, launched Make in India
initiative with an aim to boost country’s manufacturing sector and increase
purchasing power of an average Indian consumer.

 India has moved up the Ranks but is still the poorest among the G-20: India
has emerged as the fourth largest economy globally with a high growth rate
and has also improved its global ranking in terms of per capita income (as
mentioned earlier). Yet the fact remains that its per capita income continues
to be quite low (at current US $ 1527 in 2011).

 With over 1.2 billion people, India accounts for nearly one-sixth of global
population. While the rate of growth of population has consistently declined,
India’s population increased by nearly 180 million persons during 2001-11
(the highest in the world in absolute terms).

 Problems with India’s Economic State

The World Bank Study titled ‘Unleashing India’s Innovation’ (2007)
observed that India had increasingly become a top global innovator in high–
tech products and services. Yet the country is underperforming in terms of
its innovation potential. India spends less than 0.9 per cent of its GDP in the
area of R&D, which covers basic research, applied research, and
experimental development.
 India and Brics

In 2001, the British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC
to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and
China.The grouping was formalised during the first meeting of BRIC
Foreign Ministers on the margins of the UNGA in New York in 2006.The
first BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June, 2009.The
expansion of grouping took place at Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New
York in 2010 with the inclusion of South Africa.

BRICS is the acronym coined to associate five major emerging

economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and

South Africa. The BRICS members are known for their

significant influence on regional affairs.[1] Since 2009, the governments of
the BRICS states have met annually at formal summits. Russia hosted the
most recent 12th BRICS summit on 17 November 2020 virtually due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In 1990, BRIC countries accounted for 11% of global
gross domestic product (GDP). By 2014, this figure rose to nearly 30%.
These figures include a high in 2010, following a plunge in value,
surrounding the 2008 financial crisis.

Reasons for collaboration of BRICS members-

 Member countries are big countries in both area and population, and face
similar challenges.
 Member countries want to make proper use of their untapped economy
through collaboration
 Member countries aim to create alternative goal infrastructure in economic
and financial fields.
 Member countries want to explore the markets in their region as the
countries are gateways into macro regions like South Africa for African
region, Brazil for Latin American region
 Criticism of BRICS
O’Neill’s BRIC thesis has been challenged over the years as the economic
and geopolitical climate has shifted. Arguments include the notion that raw
materials in BRIC nations China, Russia, and South Africa are limitless.
Those critiquing the growth models say they ignore the finite nature of fossil
fuels, uranium, and other critical and heavily used resources. It has also been
argued that China outstrips the other BRIC members' economies in GDP
growth and political muscle, putting it into a different category.

BRICS vs India
India shares close economic and cultural ties with her BRICS partners.
India attaches high importance to engagement with BRICS as a platform for
coordination, consultation and cooperation on current issues. India’s
engagement with BRICS countries may be seen in the context of our pro-
active and broad-based international engagement to contribute towards
building a peaceful and prosperous world.

 India’s trade with BRICS partners is about US$ 95 billion [2013-14 data
from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of India]. India’s strengths lie in
labour, services, generic pharmaceuticals, and information technology.
There are significant synergies with other BRICS partners which may be
tapped to further strengthen intra-BRICS linkages in these areas. India’s
participation in BRICS help the nation in the following

 The BRICS also allows India and China to modulate their rivalry within the
setting of a small grouping, even when bilateral relations remain rocky. This
was clear during the Doklam standoff of 2017, when both sides remained
engaged through BRICS throughout the entirety of the crisis; this has also
been the case so far during the ongoing Ladakh standoff.

 As many scholars of Indian foreign policy have persuasively argued, a lot of

India’s behavior in the world stage can be explained by its quest for
international status. While this was most pronounced during the Cold War,
when a materially enfeebled India continued to lecture the West and sought
to lead motley Third World coalitions, status-seeking hasn’t disappeared,
despite the country’s newfound advocacy of a realist foreign policy. BRICS
is a case in point.
  India is a proudly revisionist power when it comes to the extant structure of
international organizations and the United Nations system. It continues to
maintain that the international system does not recognize the country’s
economic and political heft and demands top-down reform, beginning with
the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) where it seeks permanent membership.
Even a casual look at RICS joint statements from the past reveals that reform
of the international multilateral architecture remains the key political issue
for the BRICS.

Importance of BRICS for India

 Geo-Politics: Global geopolitics today represents the case of a tug of war

and India finds itself in the middle of it. This has made difficult for India to
carve a middle path for balancing its strategic interests between the U.S and
the Russia-China axis.
 Global Economic Order: BRICS countries shared a common objective of
reforming the international financial and monetary system, with a strong
desire to build a more just, and balanced international order
 To this end, BRICS community plays an important role in the G20, in
shaping global economic policies and promoting financial stability.
 Voice of Developing Nations: As the western countries are raising
challenges on issues ranging from World Trade Organisation to climate
change, the developing countries are crippling under the onslaught of these
policies.
 In recent period, BRICS has emerged as the voice of developing countries,
or the global south and playing a significant role in protecting the rights of
developing countries.

Conclusion

 BRICS should promote comprehensive development of all states both big

and small and enhanced mutually beneficial cooperation among them on the
basis of shared interests.
 BRICS nations should strive for peaceful and politico-diplomatic settlement
of crisis and conflict in various regions of the world.
 BRICS, being one of the pillars of the emerging fairer polycentric world
order, plays an important stabilising role in global affairs.
 India and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established
along with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development at the
Conference of 44 nations held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July
1944. At present, 187 nations are members of IMF. India is a founder member of
the IMF. India has not taken any financial assistance from the IMF since 1993.
Repayments of all the loans taken from International Monetary Fund have been
completed on 31 May, 2000.

Benefits of becoming the IMF member:

 Independence of the Indian Rupee :

Before the establishment of the IMF, the Indian rupee was linked with the
British Pound Sterling. But Indian rupee has become independent after the
establishment of IMF. Its value is expressed in terms of gold. It is not
determined by the Pound Sterling. It means that Indian rupee is easily
convertible into the currency of any other country.

 Membership of the World Bank:

India has become a member of the World Bank also by virtue of its
membership of the Fund. As a result, India got several loan facilities from
the World Bank for the development purposes.

 Availability of Foreign Currencies:

The Government of India has been purchasing foreign currencies from the
Fund from time to time to meet the requirements of development activities.
The large amount of availability of foreign currencies has greatly promoted
the economic development of the country.

 Reputation in International Circle:

India is one of those six countries which have occupied a special place in the
Board of Directors of the Fund. Thus, India had played a creditable role in
determining the policies of the Fund. This has increased India’s prestige in
the international circles. India takes keen interest in the formulation of
Fund’s policies.
 India in the Changing world

Quota Reforms

 As part of the Fourteenth General Review of Quotas (2010, India’s total

quota has been increased to SDR 13,114.4 million from SDR 5821.5
million. With this increase, India’s share would increase to 2.75 % (from
2.44%), making it the 8th largest quota holding country in the IMF.

 Article-IV Consultations
As part of its mandate for international surveillance under the Articles of
Agreement, the IMF conducts what is known as Article-IV consultations to
review the economic status of member countries. Article-IV Consultations
are generally held in two phases, main consultations in October-November
and mid-term review in June. Latest round of Article-IV Consultations for
India took place in October 25–November 9, 2012.

 Financial Transactions Plan (FTP)

India agreed to participate in the Financial Transaction Plan of the IMF in
late 2002. Fifty three countries, including India, now participate in FTP. By
participation in FTP, India is allowing IMF to en-cash its rupee holdings as
part of our quota contribution, for hard currency which is then lent to other
member countries who are debtors to the IMF._ From 2002 to 31 December,
2010 India has made seventeen purchase transactions of SDRs 1194.16
million and twenty-two repurchase transactions of SDRs 795.98 million.

 India’s contribution to lending resources of IMF:

In the London Summit of the Group of Twenty (G-20), a decision was taken
to triple the IMF’s lending capacity upto US$ 500 billion. In pursuance of
this decision, India decided to invest its reserves, initially up to US$ 10
billion through the Notes Purchase Agreement (NPA), and subsequently
upto US$

 14 billion through New Arrangement to Borrow(NAB) _ As of 7 April,

2011, India has invested SDR 750 million (approx. 5,340.36 crores ) through
nine note purchase agreements with the IMF.
 India and World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization , as an institution was
established in 1995. It replaced General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT)
which was in place since 1946. In pursuance of World War II, western countries
came out with their version of development, which is moored in promotion of free
trade and homogenization of world economy on western lines. This version claims
that development will take place only if there is seamless trade among all the
countries and there are minimal tariff and non- tariff barriers. That time along with
two Bretton wood institutions – IMF and World Bank, an International Trade
Organization (ITO) was conceived. ITO was successfully negotiated and agreed
upon by almost all countries. It was supposed to work as a specialized arm of
United Nation, towards promotion of free trade. However, United States along
with many other major countries failed to get this treaty ratified in their respective
legislatures and hence it became a dead letter.

Cases of Complaints against India

 India — Certain Measures Relating to Solar Cells and Solar Modules

(Complainant: United States)

 India —Anti-Dumping Duties on USB Flash Drives from the Separate

Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu(Complainant:
Chinese Taipei)

 India —Measures Concerning the Importation of Certain Agricultural

Products(Complainant: United States)

 India —Certain Taxes and Other Measures on Imported Wines and

Spirits(Complainant: European Communities)

Cases of Complaints by India

 United States —Countervailing Measures on Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon

Steel Flat Products from India (Complainant: India)

 Turkey —Safeguard measures on imports of cotton yarn (other than sewing

thread)(Complainant: India)
 Indo – US’s WTO problem?
 Since end of cold war both countries have witnessed a spectacular
improvement in bilateral relations in almost all spheres. However, at
WTO platform two countries remain arch rival and leaders of opposite
camps. U.S. has severe disliking for India’s position in atleast two
spheres – Agriculture and Intellectual Property.

 Agriculture
We have already seen that Agreement on Agriculture which was
hatched in Uruguay round negotiations is heavily tilted in favor of
developed world. For balancing this India as part of Group of
developing and least developed nations (G-33) proposed amendment
to AOA in 2008. Current quest of G-33, toward achieving permanent
solution is follow up story of this proposal only. As of now, Peace
Clause agreed to in 2013, allows us perpetually to continue our food
stocking program at administered prices, without being dragged into
WTO for violation of AOA.

 Intellectual Property
Further, as part of Doha Development Agenda, developing countries
managed to tweak ‘Agreement on Trade related aspects of Intellectual
Property’ (TRIPS) in favor of developing countries by allowing
compulsory licensing in certain circumstances. First compulsory
license was granted by Indian Patent Office to NATCO for ‘nexavar’
drug produced originally by German firm Bayer AG.

 Since then US pharma industry has been apprehensive of frequent

evocation of this principle in developing world. US not only want this
concept to be done away with, it also wants a liberal IPR regime
which allows evergreening of patents. Indian Patent Act as amended
in 2005 allows protection of both product and process, but it allows
patent only when there is enhanced efficacy of the substance.

 Domestic Content Requirement in Solar Panel

Recently, India lost this case to US in WTO’s dispute resolution body.
India has prescribed ‘domestic content requirement’ for procurement
of Solar cells/panels for its target of installing 100 GW of solar power
by 2022. Under this some (about 5%) procurement was reserved to be
 bought from Indian vendors, to promote indigenous industry. US
alleged that this is against principles of Non Discrimination and
National Treatment.

 India now has appealed against this decision and can get 2 year
reprieve from rolling back of scheme.

 Earlier this year, WTO had ruled against the Indian ban on import of
poultry meat, eggs and live pigs from the US, stating that it was not
consistent with international norms.

 Visa problem
Recently, U.S. has double the fees for certain categories of H1B and
L1 visas to $4,000 and $4,500 respectively. H1B and L1 visas are
temporary work visas for skilled professionals. India is the largest
user of H1B visas (67.4 per cent of the total 161,369 H1B visas issued
in FY14 went to Indians) and is also among the largest users of L1
visas (Indians received 28.2 per cent of the 71,513 L1 visas issued in
FY14). India is likely to pursue bilateral discussions over the issue,
but as last resort it may head to WTO if nothing comes out.

Conclusion
India has to continue its effort to prevent issues of developmental
importance to be sidelined. Until this is done WTO cannot impinge
upon sovereignty of India. India has already marked red line in sectors
such as agriculture by making it clear than there is no scope of
compromise on its positions. West has relentlessly tried to project
India as rigid and uncompromising negotiator. However, these
attributes are better suited to U.S. and other developed countries. They
have been backtracking on various commitments under Doha
Development Round and desperately trying to bring in new issues
including Singapore issues.