Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that Rs 26,000 crore has been approved by the government to install new 25,000 telecom towers in the next 500 days.

The minister also congratulated all states and Union Territories (UTs) for their speedy on-boarding at PM Gati Shakti. He also shared that the special assistance to States for capital expenditure worth Rs 2000 Crore has been supported.

He said the measure was being taken as connectivity was vital for Digital India and its reach to every corner of the country, during the three-day Digital India Conference of State IT Ministers which concluded yesterday, according to an official statement of the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY).

Emphasising the motto of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas, he stated that the commitments from all states and UTs, large as well as small states, are vital in taking Digital India to a higher level and in realising the Aatmanirbhar Bharat and trillion-dollar Digital Economy.

MeitY had organised on Sunday three sessions on important aspects such as ‘IT Rules, online gaming, and data governance, ‘Digital India Bhashini and digital payment’, and ‘MyScheme and Meri Pehchaan’. The demo on eligibility/profile-based service discovery at MyScheme was shown, MeitY said.

Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship,  Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Minister of State for Communications,  Devusinh Chauhan, and IT Ministers from 12 States and UTs, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Puducherry participated in the sessions.

The Ministry organised five-panel discussions on Monday. These were — Attracting Startups to Tier 2 Cities and Sustaining Them, Use of Emerging Tech in Public Services, Making India Talent Nation, Realization of Digital Government in States, and Make-in-India for the Globe – India as Semiconductor Nation.

Some of the speakers in these sessions were MapMyIndia chief executive officer Rohan Verma, Wadhwani CEO Prakash Kumar, Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh, Tata Sons Senior Government Affairs Officer Tanmoy Chakravarty, and Texas Instruments MD Santhosh Kumar.

On collaborations, MeitY Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma said start-up-friendly policies and incentives at the state level for creating a thriving start-up ecosystem.

On emerging technology, he emphasised data-driven decision-making and data and process-driven innovations using artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, drones, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

(with inputs from ANI)