Jyotiraditya Scindia, former aviation minister in the Modi 2.0 government, on Tuesday took charge of the Ministry of Communications, will have to hit the ground running, handling the 5G spectrum auction scheduled this month-end involving Rs 96,000 crore worth of airwaves; clearance for Elon Musk's Starlink and formulating rules for the Telecommunications Act.
It's his old department, where Scindia started out as Minister of State for telecom, Post and IT under the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led UPA-1 regime and was the driving force behind post office modernisation with the Project Arrow scheme.
Scindia, as the new Telecom Minister, has his work cut out. He will be completing the 5G spectrum auction scheduled to be held later this month.
Besides the spectrum auction, where over Rs 96,000 crore worth of airwaves will be up for grabs, Scindia will also have to prioritise issues like satellite broadband services, security clearance for Elon Musk-led Starlink and formulate rules for the new Telecommunications Act.
In office for the first day on Tuesday, Scindia said both the telecom sector and the India post division had key roles to play at the global as well as local stage.
He also recalled his previous tenure as the Minister of State for Communications about one-and-a-half decades back.
"It is indeed my honour that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given me responsibility of the Communications Ministry. Both the Telecom division as well as the India Post division have a tremendous role to play at the global stage as well as on the local stage, to enjoin the hearts of millions of people across the country and the world," Scindia told reporters after taking charge.
The minister said that there has been a revolution under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and pledged to deliver his best as per the aspirations of the PM and people of this country.
"It is also a little bit like coming full circle for me. I worked as a junior minister in this department many, many years ago in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Therefore for me it is also a department with which I have had tremendous emotional ties," Scindia said.
Scinida will have to set the ball rolling on a 100-day agenda that would outline clear priority areas, key deliverables, roadmaps and targets for the telecom sector.
Scindia, who takes over the baton from Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, inherits a sector with improved financial metrics, lower litigations, and lesser uncertainty following the disposal of several cases in courts.
As a minister in the Modi 3.0 government, Scindia will have the challenge of reviving state-run telecom firm BSNL and settling the debt issues of MTNL.
The new minister also has the challenge of resolving the threat posed by fraudulent calls and the persistent issue of unwanted calls.
Scindia won from Guna in Madhya Pradesh by more than 5.40 lakh votes.
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