India's 5G completely standalone and our own product: Sitharaman

New Delhi, Oct 14: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that India has launched its indigenously developed 5G infrastructure and is ready to share it with other countries as well.

During an interaction with students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Sitharaman said,"The story (of India's 5G) is yet to reach the public.''

"The 5G that we've launched in our country is completely standalone," she said in response to a question as reported by news agency PTI.

"There could be some parts coming from, say, countries like (South) Korea, but (not) coming from somebody else. So complete indigenous technology that we can now provide 5G (to any country) who wants it," she said.

"So, our 5G is not imported from somewhere else. It's our own product," Sitharaman said.

The 5G services were recently launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in select Indian cities and are likely to cover the entire nation by 2024, she said.

"On 5G, I think, we can be immensely proud of India's achievements," Sitharaman said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 5G technology earlier this month at India Mobile Congress 2022 in New Delhi. The 5G services began with Bharti Airtel rolling out services in eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Bengaluru. Reliance Industries Ltd. chairman Mukesh Ambani said that Jio 5G network will cover the remotest corners of India by December next year, providing services "more affordable than anywhere else in the world."