New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated the 10th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi, asserting that the country has made a decisive shift from merely being a consumer of technology to becoming an active creator. Addressing global leaders, industry delegates, and innovators, he emphasized that national focus has pivoted toward domestically engineering products, designs, emerging technologies, and intellectual property.
Reflecting on the country’s digital evolution over the past decade, the Prime Minister noted that initiatives under Digital India placed mobile connectivity at the centre of efforts to democratize technology and bridge the digital divide. He pointed out that while mobile phones were once considered communication devices accessible largely to affluent sections, sweeping telecom reforms, domestic equipment manufacturing, and massive infrastructure rollouts have transformed handheld devices into vital instruments of governance and inclusion.
Aligning his address with this year’s theme, “Scale Without Boundaries”, Modi underscored that telecom services have expanded far beyond towers, bandwidth, and spectrum to deliver tangible citizen dividends by curtailing travel, reducing wait times, and lowering operational costs across everyday life. Turning to connectivity milestones, he observed that India’s 5G footprint has expanded across every district with more than 5.5 lakh base stations, driving mobile internet speeds tenfold higher than 2022 benchmarks.
The Prime Minister also issued a call for robust security across the digital ecosystem, urging stakeholders to establish an airtight framework to protect networks and mobile devices. Highlighting the escalating risks associated with synthetic media and deepfakes, Modi advocated for concerted global cooperation and a unified international framework to mitigate digital manipulation and safeguard public trust. Welcoming international delegates and highlighting that India is hosting the GSMA Board meeting alongside the congress, he noted that mobile devices have rapidly evolved into portable gaming consoles and creative studios, setting the stage for India’s next phase of technological leadership.
