(a) whether the Government has any proposal to provide financial assistance to undertake research and study in telecom sector in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the list of such institutions;
(c) whether any institution in Odisha has been provided assistance in this regard; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) Yes, Madam.
(b) The National Telecom Policy 2012 proposed to create a corpus to promote indigenous research & development, intellectual property right (IPR) creation, entrepreneurship, manufacturing, commercialization and deployment of state-of-the-art telecom products and services during the 12th Five Year Plan period. Government has set up an Expert Group which has given its recommendation for creation of three funds including the Telecom Research Development Fund (TRDF) amounting to Rs. 5000 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan. The detailed project report (DPR) is under preparation for submission to the Planning Commission.
(c) No financial assistance has been provided under the TRDF to any institution including institutions in Odisha.
(d) Does not arise in view of response to (c) above.