DoT clears grant to 43 companies to develop 5G gear locally

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approved 43 startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for a grant of over ₹50 crore to develop indigenous 5G equipment and technologies.

The grant was approved as part of the Digital Communication Innovation Square Initiative, under the Champion Services Sector Scheme, for which the government had invited applications in April to promote an ecosystem for research, design, development, IPR creation and manufacturing.

The grant given to the 43 startups and MSMEs will be for development of telecom technologies like 5G core, RAN, NMS, IMS, chipsets, devices, ICT solutions and applications enhancing deep tech, to create competencies in domestic entities and prepare the country for the roll out of 5G services, the ministry of communications said in a tweet on Thursday.

Among the approved organisations are BKC Aggregators, Coral Telecom, Wisig Networks, SASTRA University, and Versatile Antenna Systems.

Under the scheme, startups will get a grant of ₹50 lakhs while MSMEs will get a grant of ₹2 crore, and a consortium will get a grant of ₹10 crore. The financial support will be provided to those projects and ideas that have reached at least the proof of concept level.