Govt expects new telecom policy to be in place by July end

The new telecom policy is expected to be cleared by the Union Cabinet by the end of next month, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said today.

"I am hopeful of getting Cabinet approval on NDCP (6x increase in public spending from Rs 9,000 crore in 2009-14 to Rs 60,000 crore in 2014-19 (actual +planned) by end of July," he said while talking about the achievement of the government in the last 4 years.

The government has recently issued the National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) which aims to provide access to every household with download speed of 50 Mbps, attract investment of around Rs 6.5 lakh crore in the sector and create 4 million new job opportunities with a few years.

"When this government came to power, the sector was in turmoil. There was trust deficit among stakeholders which we have reestablished now," Sinha said.

On the Department of Posts (DoP), he said that it is waiting for approval of Reserve Bank of India to start 650 branches of India Post payments Bank which will be connected with all 1.5 lakh post office branches gradually and create India's largest banking network.

He said his ministry is working to create a separate insurance company under DoP.