Data is the new oil and India produces it plenty: Mukesh Ambani at India Mobile Congress

Moneycontrol News

Chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL) Mukesh Ambani stressed on the creation of a digital infrastructure in India in line with the Prime Minister's vision of a Digital India as he spoke at the Indian Mobile Congress in New Delhi.

"Data is the oxygen of a digital economy," Ambani said.

Emphasizing that India ranks first in data consumption globally, he said that the pace at which India's digital economy has grown in the span of a year is unparalleled.

He said that he believes that the Indian economy will rank among the top three economies of the world in the next 20 years, given that telecom and IT industries play a foundational role in creating a digital infrastructure.

Ambani highlighted that India has missed the three major industrial revolutions of mechanization, mass production and automation but shall rise up to the fourth industrial revolution "fuelled by connectivity, data and artificial intelligence" which has already begun.

"Data is the new oil. India does not need to import it. We have it in superabundance. It will be a new source of value and will create opportunities and prosperity for India and millions of Indians," he said.

Mobile internet and cloud computing are the foundational technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, he added.

He said that the industry needs to take up the "urgent task" of empowering 1.3 billion population with the tools required to excel in the digital marketplace.

Declaring that 4G internet will soon become larger than the 2G internet in India, he said that smartphones should be provided to all to ensure "ubiquitous access to high-speed data at affordable prices."

Expressing enormous faith in the youth of the country, Ambani said that the nation needs to develop faith in technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things for the digital revolution to take place.