The government is planning to launch a new Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) with higher outlay by October, Union Minister of State for Telecom Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said on Friday.
Speaking at the COAI Digicom Summit 2026, he said the ministry has so far sanctioned around Rs 540 crore to more than 100 companies under TTDF scheme and many of them are in the 6G space. “We are also coming up with a technology development fund with even more outlay and more co-funding mechanisms so that the fund really does what it's supposed to do,” Pemmasani said.
When asked about the time for launch of the fund, he said that the process has started and expects it to get final approval by October. The minister pitched for promoting innovation in the industry with increased investment in research and development for which the government is also providing financial support.
He said the government came up with a PLI (production linked incentive) scheme with an outlay of Rs 12,000 crore in which around 42 companies participated and it generated close to Rs 62,000 crore of sales.
“This might seem somewhat smaller when you look at the overall picture. At one point we were completely dependent on imports but this is an area where I think we can do much better and then the government has come up with a Telecom Technology Development Fund to support both research and innovation in academia and startups,” the minister said.
He said the government is exploring more co-funding mechanisms to keep a check on the fund flow and its use. “We are mainly assembling quite a bit. I request all our operators, manufacturers to focus on design-led manufacturing. We have different incentive structures for that and then also build export-grade testing and certification facilities. That will enable it to create trust in Indian companies and then build joint ventures with global technology leaders for the design, IP and getting the senior engineering talent,” the minister said.
He said the government has taken bold steps to support growth of the industry which has also led to financial recovery in the sector. The minister said the sector’s gross revenue has grown around 10 per cent compared to last year and is reaching Rs 3.7 lakh crore. “This is a recovery of structural health and this is backed by FDI inflows," he said.
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