As part of the ease of doing business in the country, the government is committed to introducing a single-window clearance mechanism for investors by mid-April next year. This technology-based platform for both domestic or global investors envisages to give all the information about the land, procedures, requirements and requirements to get that investment proposal cleared. "It will lead to a unified single sheet of information, which other approval ministries will draw. So, the investor doesn't have to do multiple applications in the end. Although, it is not going to replace any important approval because these are all important approvals.  

India's own 5G technology, TSDSI 5Gi, has completed the evaluation phase of ITU's International Mobile Telecommunications 2020 (IMT-2020) vision and now conforms with the stringent performance requirement. This means that India's contribution is now being accepted as the global 5G standard. The Telecom Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI), India’s body for telecom standards, said that global vendors will now need to make handsets and base stations conforming to this standard. The other two technologies that have completed the evaluation phase are 3GPP 5G-SRIT and 3GPP 5G-RIT submitted by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has formed eight working groups to create a roadmap for the deployment of fifth-generation or 5G in different sectors such as agriculture, fintech, transportation and education. The working groups include members from Chinese vendor company Huawei, who will look at healthcare and fintech sectors, according to a notification by the department. “The objective is to conduct a study and to produce a report with actionable points which brings out the use of 5G mobile technology in the respective sectors and how global use cases of 5G mobile technology in these sectors can be utilised and adapted to the Indian requirements," the DoT said in a notification.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has got the green signal to roll out the ambitious Artificial Intelligence (AI) mission, resolving a long-standing issue of which arm of the administration would implement the prestigious project. The AI Mission is a five-year programme announced in the Budget two years ago. For the last couple of years, India has been harbouring big ambitions to develop its own AI roadmap and strategy to counter the lead that China already has in this area.

The Department of Telecommunications is working on identifying additional spectrum to address Indian telecom operators' demand for a "larger chunk" of airwaves to rollout 5G services. DoT has allocated the 3300 MHz to 3600 MHz band for 5G services. Worldwide, the allocation of bands for 5G services is from 3300 MHz to 4200 MHz. India doesn’t have that much bandwidth, so we are looking for an additional 150 MHz,” a senior official said. Telcos had previously urged the telecom department to ensure optimum availability of spectrum in the 3300-3600 mid-band earmarked for 5G services.

MEITY has drafted a Data Centre policy to benefit the Data Centre park developers/Data Centre operators as well as the allied ecosystem of Data Centre sector. The policy intends to ensure sustainable and trusted Data Centre capacity within the country. This policy framework shall be followed by a detailed scheme with implementation guideline document providing the particulars of various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to be provided to the sector by the Central and State Government. The Policy document is attached for your reference.

India's power ministry has proposed pushing back the deadlines for adoption of new emission norms by coal-fired power plants, saying "an unworkable time schedule" would burden utilities and lead to an increase in power tariffs. India initially had set a 2017 deadline for thermal power plants to comply with emissions standards for installing Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) units that cut emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide. That was later changed to varying deadlines for different regions, ending in 2022. 

India is planning to replace retiring coal-fired power plants with renewable generating capacity in a bid to cut the nation's carbon footprint. India is the world's second largest coal consumer after China, and the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Coal-fired plants currently account for over half its nearly 373 gigawatt (GW) power generating capacity. Many of those plants are getting retired. Some plants are already retired, and about 29 more plants are going to retire, and all that space will be occupied by renewable energy.  

Flying base stations are a feature that enhances wireless capacity and coverage footprint on the ground with ultra-dense traffic demands, to meet the requirements of 5G and B5G or beyond 5G cellular communications.  Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur have developed a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) assisted communication infrastructure for 5G that can serve as an air-borne mobile telecom tower during emergency situations. The system includes an Android-based application fitted to a fleet of drones which are programmed to create emergency communication networks by extending cellular network coverage from the closest available mobile tow.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, has given its approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of India and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) of United Kingdom Government on cooperation in the field of Telecommunications /Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The MoU will contribute in strengthening bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding in the field of Telecomm./ ICTs.  Post-Brexit, the MoU is also aiming for enhanced scope of cooperation and opportunities for India.