New Delhi, Feb 20
In a bid to advance cooperation in telecommunications, digital infrastructure, and emerging technologies, a bilateral meeting was held between Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his Brazilian counterpart Frederico de Siqueira Filho, it was announced on Friday.
Scindia apprised the Brazilian side of the wide-ranging initiatives undertaken by the government over the past 11 years to expand digital infrastructure, promote affordability, and strengthen inclusive connectivity.
He also highlighted India's achievement in providing among the lowest data tariffs globally and emphasized the government's commitment to ensuring a "bouquet of services" for citizens, enabling informed choice across technologies.
"The discussions reaffirmed the growing strategic partnership between India and Brazil and underscored digital connectivity as a foundational pillar for inclusive growth, socio-economic development, and technological sovereignty," said an official statement.
As key partners in the BRICS framework, both sides emphasised the importance of shaping resilient, trusted, and future-ready digital ecosystems.
The Brazilian minister conveyed his keen interest in expanding structured cooperation in telecommunications and shared Brazil's initiatives in digital inclusion, including a major program with an investment of approximately $500 million to roll out approximately 40,000 km of optical fibre cable in the Amazon region.
He also underlined Brazil's success in promoting digital payments through the PIX platform and emphasised the country's active engagement in satellite and submarine connectivity initiatives.
Scindia underlined the progress of the BharatNet project, aimed at connecting Gram Panchayats across the country, supported by significant public investment.
He also elaborated on India Stack initiatives, including Aadhaar and UPI, and noted the exponential growth of mobile-based digital transactions as a result of robust digital infrastructure.
Scindia further emphasized India's focus on 5G innovation and use cases, including the establishment of 100 use case laboratories for 5G across the country to promote industry-academia collaboration and application-driven deployment.
The Brazilian side expressed interest in understanding the operational framework of India's Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), and Minister Scindia explained its funding mechanism, including the 5 percent Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) contribution model that supports rural and remote connectivity projects.
- IANS
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