DoT clears Rs 50 crore grant to 43 Startups, MSMEs to develop indigenous telecom hardware

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

The DoT approved the grant under 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 preparing India for roll out of 5G services, the ministry of communications said in a tweet Thursday.

The list of approved organisations include BKC Aggregators, Coral Telecom, Wisig Networks, SASTRA University, Versatile Antenna Systems, and more.

The Digitial Communication Innovation Square Initiative was started in a bid to foster an ecosystem of indigenously developed telecom equipment, in a bid to reduce reliance on imported equipment and technologies.

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

The scheme will also provide the selected startups and MSMEs mentorships or incubation support, and technical advisory support during the project.