Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 8 October declared that India is on a determined march toward a future where products, designs, underlying technology, and intellectual property are all developed and owned domestically. Addressing the 10th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) in New Delhi, Modi said the country has decisively moved beyond being a technology consumer to becoming a creator and innovator of global standing.

The Vision: Made in India, Owned by India

Spelling out his government's ambition, Prime Minister Modi said: 'India is marching towards the goal, where the product and design will be made in India, and its technology and IP will also belong to India.' This framing is a significant shift in official rhetoric — from assembly-led manufacturing to full-stack indigenisation that includes research, design, and intellectual property ownership.

The Prime Minister pointed to a multi-pronged strategy combining regulatory reforms, domestic manufacturing incentives, and intellectual property creation as the pillars driving the transformation in the telecom sector.

Telecom Reforms and the 5G Rollout

Modi highlighted the Telecommunications Act and the GatiShakti portal as flagship policy instruments aimed at creating an enabling environment across the telecom value chain. He described the government's approach as a 'reform express' moving rapidly toward greater technological self-reliance.

Recalling the launch of 5G at the India Mobile Congress in 2022, Modi noted that 5G networks have since expanded to more than 5.5 lakh base stations, reaching every district in the country. Internet speeds, he added, have increased tenfold over the same period.

Notably, this is the 10th consecutive edition of the IMC, and the forum has become a barometer of India's digital ambitions — from a largely import-dependent handset market a decade ago to a net exporter of mobile phones today.

Semiconductor Mission: Next Phase Targets Full Supply Chain

On semiconductor manufacturing — a strategic priority for India amid global chip supply disruptions — Modi said commercial production is already underway at five locations across the country. He announced that the next phase of the India Semiconductor Mission will focus on localising the entire semiconductor supply chain, a step beyond the current assembly and testing focus.

This comes amid intensifying global competition for chip manufacturing dominance, with the United States, the European Union, and China all committing hundreds of billions to domestic semiconductor capacity. India's entry into full-cycle production, if realised, would mark a structural shift in its technology standing.

Mobile Phones as Governance Tools

The Prime Minister asserted that 'in the last 10-12 years, the mobile phone has emerged as a vital tool of good governance, serving as the absolute core of the Digital India vision.' He credited mobile connectivity with transforming service delivery — from direct benefit transfers to digital health records — and described the device as central to India's broader development agenda.

What Comes Next

With the India Semiconductor Mission entering its next phase and the telecom sector's regulatory framework overhauled through the Telecommunications Act, the government's focus will now shift to execution — particularly on supply chain localisation and IP generation. Industry observers will watch whether domestic firms can move from producing handsets under foreign licences to filing original patents, which remains the harder half of Modi's stated goal.