Jyotiraditya Scindia at Idea Exchange: ‘You criticise the EC, call our economy dead, mock the judiciary… good luck to you'

Indian Express

10 hours ago

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on the Opposition, Starlink's entry into India, countering cybercrime, development projects in the Northeast and being part of the UPA and NDA governments. This session was moderated by Divya A, Senior Assistant Editor, The Indian Express.
The PM made it very clear from the early years of his tenure that the northeastern region presents tremendous potential, not only for the growth of India but all of Southeast Asia. Importance has been laid on this sector through continued initiatives, including the 10 per cent gross budgetary support that the government of India has given the sector, growing from Rs 24,000 crore per year in 2014 to the highest level, which is Rs 1,02,000 crore, in 2023-24.
If you look at national highways, the network has grown from 10,000 km to 16,200 km. You have close to five states being connected by the railway network, almost 19 projects worth Rs 80,000 crore are being executed on the ground. The Bogibeel bridge is India's longest road-cum-rail bridge. Today we have 17 airports in the Northeast. Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim did not have a single airport. Now Arunachal Pradesh has four airports.
The transformation has been tremendous. All the Northeast states are growing at a decadal average Compounded Annual Growth Rate of between 11 and 13 per cent.
In November 2024 we held the Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav, where a cultural paradigm exposition was held at Bharat Mandapam for all eight states. In December, we had a banking summit in Tripura. The Northeast Investment Summit was held in May.
We have also created a Northeast regional environment. We've set up eight high-level task forces, taking eight separate topics. It may be agriculture, economic corridors, investment in commerce. One chief minister is heading every high-level task force. The members of each one of those task forces are three other chief ministers. So now there is a regional perspective as opposed to only my state perspective.
We are also looking at specific projects. The best pineapple in the world is the Queen pineapple, which comes from Tripura. The best chillies are the Naga chillies. Our ahimsa silk (eri silk), Muga silk have tremendous capabilities. I'm working on particular projects for each one of these sectors. We're also looking at creating a tourism circuit for each of these states.
Divya A: Starlink is coming to India. Will it largely be an urban phenomenon, considering its high costs?
My job as telecom minister is to be able to provide every consumer with as many choices as possible. We have done that in every vertical, including ISPs (Internet Service Provider), telcos, broadband providers and satellite providers. Three licences have been given out as of date. You've got OneWeb, Jio and now you have Starlink. It's for every customer to choose based on his/her price point and the service they want.
With regard to SATCOM, I believe it's going to be a complementary service to mobile telephony. There are many parts of the world where mobile telephony cannot reach due to inhospitable terrain, inability to install towers, inability to put Optical Fiber Cable for backhaul and in such areas SATCOM is the only viable alternative. Also, in the event of a natural calamity, when institutionalised systems break down, SATCOM is the only media that is able to provide connectivity.
On development in the northeast | We have created a Northeast regional environment. We've set up eight high-level task forces, taking eight separate topics… One chief minister is heading every high-level task force
Divya A: How is your ministry addressing the growing threat of cybercrimes?
India is now moving from being a deployer of global technology to becoming an innovator of global technology, which is a huge paradigm shift. It's also our fiduciary responsibility to protect the interests of our consumers. Therefore, the Ministry of Telecom, through the DoT (Department of Telecom), has played a seminal role over the last year and a half.
I will give a few examples. We've put together an institutional framework so that all stakeholders combine on a single platform to safeguard the interests of consumers. The Digital Intelligence Platform has all law enforcement agencies, DoT, Ministry of Home Affairs, close to about 32 state police forces and 570 financial sector banks. There is sharing of information. That is step one.
Step two — I do not believe that this war can be fought by the government alone until you involve every single citizen. Therefore, the DoT has launched the Sanchar Saathi Portal. We've had close to 15.5 crore downloads of that portal. We also introduced the Sanchar Saathi app, which has seen close to 50 lakh downloads. Through the Sanchar Saathi Portal, close to 1.36 crore mobile phones have been disconnected through feedback from citizens, through the facility called 'Not My Number' and 'Not Required'. Through Sanchar Saathi, close to 36 lakh mobile numbers have been blocked because they've either been stolen or lost. About 21 lakh mobiles
have been traced and five lakh mobiles have been recovered and returned to their
rightful owners.
We have also used AI and set up a programme called Astra, where we've seen people take (multiple) phone numbers on their IDs, which is unlawful. We've disconnected close to 82 lakh phones through that system.
We've also set up the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, where, through the Digitise India Platform, we broadcast those who will be in the medium-risk category, high-risk category and very high-risk category in terms of committing fraud. Through that we have blocked close to three lakh bank accounts. We have frozen about 1.5 lakh debit cards and credit cards of individuals who have the capability to commit fraud.
Divya A: You also have plans to redevelop some post offices for leasing. Is there a plan to monetise real estate as well?
India Post has the largest distribution capability of any value chain, not only in India but across the world.
Today, unfortunately, India Post is a cost centre for the government of India. My resolve is to eventually convert this into a profit centre. For that, there has to be a full transformation of how we generate business, how we service business and how we transform ourselves.
We are looking at a full BPR (Business Process Reengineering) exercise. For the first time, we've constructed the India Post organisation into six verticals. We've created six SBUs (Strategic Business Units). So there is mail, there's international mail, there are parcels, financial services, PLI (Postal Life Insurance) and citizen centric services. We've created four horizontals that will service these six verticals — Finance, HR, IT and one additional. We've also hired a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and we've got a deputy CTO working with each vertical head.
We are looking at how we can examine the cost structure of our organisation per transaction. We are putting together a large CapEx programme to be able to modernise India Post. In the coming months, we'll introduce two new products within each vertical, one for international, one for mail, one for parcels, one for international mail, two across each spectrum.
My wealth today is the capability of my gramin dak sevak and looking at new business opportunities and how we can empower them to deliver better, using technology. There is a programme for modernisation of post offices and making sure that your assets earn you more. Not to dispose of them but how you can increase the yield from your assets, through rentals to other departments and so on.
It's also important to look at what the world is doing. We sent a group of our six vertical heads ten months ago to La Poste in France, Royal Mail in the UK, USPS in the US, Japan Post and DHL to study their models and see what can apply to us.
On pricing of Starlink in India | Myjob is to provide every option to my consumer and the market will decide what price is acceptable to the consumer. Companies and organisations will have to pivot according to that demand
We had a brainstorming session with all 23 CPMGs (Chief Postmaster Generals) across India in Delhi, where the charter was for each CPMG to present his or her business plan for their circle for the year 25-26. This sort of cross-fertilisation pool has never happened before. We're going to hold it on a monthly basis, which will be chaired by the MoS, and on a quarterly basis, which will be chaired by me.
Liz Mathew: You served in the Congress-led UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in PM Modi's last government and are now part of the current NDA government. How has your experience been different across these three political spaces?
There's no difference between the second phase and third phase. This has always been an NDA government, all the way from (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee's time, when the NDA came into being. It has never been a BJP government alone.
It's a completely different model (compared to the Manmohan Singh government). PM Modi's model is based on results. It's a model which very firmly establishes key performance indicators in key result areas. It's a model where every single citizen has to become part of the growth story of India.
Liz Mathew: You were one of the leading faces in the UPA government but now you're just confined to your ministry. Is that a conscious decision or have you been asked to do that?
I, or my father, or my grandmother before him, have never been defined by ambition. The Scindia family has been defined by our dedication, hard work and commitment.
I firmly believe that it's important that whatever role is assigned to you, you perform that role with utmost dedication and capability. I have done that throughout my career, whether I was earlier in the Congress or today in the BJP.
Divya A: We have people inside and outside the country who are calling India a dead economy. What do you have to say to them?
Let me not speak to those who are outside the country because everyone has their opinion. But I think if you are an Indian and if you're a patriot and you're defined by a single word that you use for every institution within your country and even for your own country — you criticise the Election Commission and call it dead, you leave no stone unturned to bring down the capability of our armed forces, you mock the judiciary, you mock the Election Commission, you call our economy dead — good luck to you. The country has moved on.
Soumyarendra Barik: The MoS (Telecom) recently said that he doesn't foresee more than 20 lakh units of Starlink being sold across India because the prices could be as high as Rs 3,000 a month. Is it still correct to say that it won't be restricted to urban areas?
The SATCOM model is generally prevalent in areas where you do not have a thick enough pipe. That pipe could be your mobile network, OFC broadband, whatever option you have. As far as the number of connections and the pricing (are concerned), I don't want to comment on it because that's not my job. My job is to provide every option to my consumer and the market will decide what price is acceptable to the consumer. Companies and organisations will have to pivot according to that demand. You have two options as a player. You can be a high volume, low margin player or you can be a low volume, low market share player. That's your choice.
On addressing concerns of locals regarding the Upper Siang multipurpose project | That is the remit of the concerned state government and the Jal Shakti and Power Ministry. If the state government flags it as an issue with me, I'm more than happy to work with them
Soumyarendra Barik: Telecom reforms were last announced in 2021, including infusing equity into Vodafone Idea. We haven't seen a real improvement in the company's financial health.
I am not the CEO of Jio, Airtel or Vodafone. I'm the telecommunications minister. Every company has to look after its own finances. My job is to ensure a competitive playing field.
I was at the World Mobile Congress earlier this year and India is the only market that is still growing. India is the only market where telcos are making profits. It is the only market where you still have telecom companies investing four-and-a-half-lakh-crore to execute a 5G model that covers 99.8 per cent of all districts and 82 per cent of the population.
Ritika Chopra: The Upper Siang multi-purpose project (in Arunachal Pradesh) has been held up because of resistance from affected villagers. How is your ministry involved in addressing the concerns of the local communities?
That is not my remit. That is the remit of the concerned state government and the Jal Shakti and Power Ministry. If the concerned state government flags it as an issue with me, I'm more than happy to work with them.
Ojasvi Gupta: With regard to Starlink, how do we ensure 100 per cent rural penetration because there's only BSNL at this point? Also, kudos to BSNL for securing profit for the first time in the last 18-odd years.
After 18 years, BSNL has posted not a single quarter, but quarter on quarter, not operating profit, but net profit. In 2024-2025, BSNL also posted an amazing jump in its operating profit from 2,395 crore or to almost 5,100 crore.
Your point is extremely important, which is to ensure saturation of 4G across our country. That is not the remit of BSNL alone. All four telcos are involved with that. We have close to about 12 schemes under the Digital Bharat Nidhi that is looking at 100 per cent penetration in 38,000 villages with close to 24,000 towers. Out of that, about 12,000 towers have been erected, not by BSNL alone but by all four telcos. We are looking at completing 100 per cent saturation, hopefully in this fiscal, by March 26 or certainly 2026-27.
I have identified six parameters that are impeding this 100 per cent saturation and they extend from getting revenue, land clearance to road accessibility. I've identified 2,415 issues across those six verticals, across 36 states and union territories. I have written to each chief minister to be my partner in being able to provide this access so that my telcos can build those towers. We've resolved close to 1,691 issues. We are only left with close to 700 issues that are still pending with state governments. There are two or three state governments that are major with regard to those issues — Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha. I'm working with each chief minister. They are as eager to get this done.
There are certain sites where you cannot set up those towers because the accessibility is not there. We are going to look at two options for that — VSATs and SATCOM.