Google for India 2023: India will be one of the major 6G contributors, says Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Google for India 2023: The India-centric event focusing on Google's users and partners in the country, concluded today, October 19. During the event, Google announced a wide range of services and new initiatives in India, including made-in-India Pixel phones, starting with the Pixel 8 series. Artificial intelligence (AI) also was a major attraction as the tech giant made several announcements relating to its integration into different Google products. Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was a key dignitary of the event, was invited for a fireside chat where he highlighted the big steps India has taken towards 6G technology.

During the fireside chat, Vaishnaw was asked about his opinions on India being among the top two 5G ecosystems in the world despite launching just a year ago. He said, affirming India's position, “India now exporting complex telecom components to 14 countries including the US”.

Not stopping there, he also highlighted India's preparedness towards 6G. Vaishnaw said, “India will be one of the major contributors to 6G. Already have 200 patents related to 6G. By the time 6G rolls out in 2029, India will play a major role”.

Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks at Google for India 2023 event

Apart from this, he also took questions on a diverse set of topics. On Google developing a deep partnership with India and India's manufacturing of the Pixel smartphones, he said, “It is a very good initiative. The component ecosystem is developing rapidly in India. Mobile manufacturing was negligible 9 years ago but the prime minister's vision has led to close to 44 billion dollars worth of manufacturing, while the export of mobile phones is at $11 billion”.

On the semiconductor ecosystem in India, Vaishnaw said, “Semiconductors are a very important part of India's digital strategy. Close to 50K design engineers in India are working on designing semiconductor chips”.

Rick Osterloh, the SVP of Devices and Services at Google, who also kickstarted the Made by Google event this year and announced the Pixel 8 series, was also a part of the fireside chat. He added to Vaishnaw's comments and said, “The heart of the Pixel smartphone is the Tensor chip. I believe computing is going to be transformed with AI and Tensor helps us bring it to Pixel phones. We have a significant engineering presence in Bengaluru to work on the Tensor chipset. Another way of helping Indian consumers and the economy with engineering and training”.

On AI, Osterloh said, “AI will make mobile computers more accessible and powerful. We aim to be at the forefront of the AI revolution with applications such as Google Bard, Google Workspace, and the Pixel devices”.