New Delhi: In a significant stride towards technological independence and innovation, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw launched India's fastest and indigenously designed IP/MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) router in Bengaluru on Saturday.
MPLS is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next, based on labels rather than network addresses. The project is spearheaded by the collaboration of the government's Department of Telecom, CDOT and Nivetti. It marks a momentous achievement in the nation's journey towards becoming a major product and manufacturing hub in the global tech landscape. (Also Read: Elon Musk Announces X Streaming Service For Long Videos On Smart TVs, Competing With YouTube)
Vaishnaw said, “It is matter of pride for us that indigenously developed and made in India router, a secure router, a core routers of capacity 2.4 tbps has been developed and launched today. This is a core router, which is secure and which can actually provide very important functions in our entire Prime Minister's vision of Digital India.” (Also Read: Sam Altman Finally Returns To OpenAI Board)
“As you know, networking is key to entire Digital India efforts. And within networking routers, a core router like this is very, very important. So, I'm so glad that this kind of complex equipment has been designed in India developed in India and made in India,” the minister said.
The minister further said, “Over the past decade, India has laid down the foundational stones of technological advancement and innovation, setting the stage for significant development in the coming years.
The launch of the 2.4 terabits per second (tbps) router is seen not only as a testament to the country's growing capabilities in the tech domain but also as a pivotal moment that aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for digital India – a vision that emphasizes scaling up technological developments and fostering an environment ripe for manufacturing and innovation.”
“And the coming five years will be the journey when lots of these foundations will see totally new structures built up them for the country, for the people and for technology,” the Minister added.
Minister Vaishnaw highlighted the transformative shift in manufacturing paradigms, from traditional mechanical processes to ones deeply intertwined with software, innovation, and intellectual prowess.
He said, “We are a good service nation and will continue to be that. We will continue to grow on the services. In parallel, we make our efforts to become a product nation and a manufacturing nation. That's the focus that's why I' ve come here today. I will also be going to Applied Materials where the equipments which go into manufacturing semiconductors, they will be manufactured and designed in India.”
He further said, “Today, manufacturing is no longer the old manufacturing where it was practically a mechanical kind of activity, where you go to fix cut things in a particular size. Today's manufacturing is a manufacturing where there is lots and lots of software in it, lots and lots of innovation in it, lots and lots of combination of brain power in the hardware which is today's manufacturing.”
“Having a very strong base of software and having very significantly large design capabilities make us absolutely at a takeoff point where we can become a major product nation in the world,” Minister said.
It is pertinent to note that the Nivetti router, capable of handling 2.4 tbps data, represents a leap in networking technology, promising to bolster India's digital infrastructure and support the ever-growing demand for high-speed data processing and transmission.
This achievement is a direct result of the government's concerted efforts to create an enabling environment for innovators through policy measures, financial incentives, and a regulatory framework designed to eliminate obstacles and encourage development.
Reflecting on the global tradition of nurturing innovation through supportive policies, Minister Vaishnaw reiterated the government's commitment to enhancing market opportunities, boosting exports, and streamlining regulations to aid innovators.
The initiatives introduced under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, including design-linked innovation, production-linked incentives (PLI) and a variety of startup-friendly schemes, are set to be scaled up significantly, aiming at propelling India to the forefront of global innovation and product development.