In May 2025, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Ministry of Communications(MoC) and Ministry of Development of North East Region (MDoNER) unveiled ‘Innovate to Transform’ as the theme for the 9th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC 2025), which is scheduled to be held from October 08 to 11, 2025 at Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi, Delhi.
- This theme for IMC 2025 reflects the important role of innovation in shaping the future and enabling real, transformative change across various sectors like from industry and infrastructure to society and sustainability.
- While addressing the event, Union Minister highlighted that at present, India has developed DSS capabilities i.e. Designing in India, Solving in India, and Scaling from India, which reflect India’s growing self-reliance and international competence in technology and innovation.
About India Mobile Congress (IMC 2025):
i.It will be organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), MoC and New Delhi (Delhi)-based Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
ii.The forum is projected to attract more than 1.5 lakh visitors from 150+ countries, feature over 400 exhibitors & partners and over 7,000 international delegates.
iii.Also, ASPIRE which is a flagship startup programme of Government of India (GoI), introduced in 2023, will showcase over 500 startups and connect them with over 300 investors, incubators, accelerators, and VCs for mentorship, live pitching sessions and networking.
Key Highlights of the Event:
Launch of Revamped Sanchar Mitra Scheme:
During the event, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia launched the revamped ‘Sanchar Mitra Scheme’, designed to mobilise the power of India’s Yuva Shakti (student volunteers) to become informed ambassadors of telecom awareness, cybersecurity, and digital empowerment.
- He also referred the scheme as a vision that symbolizes India’s leadership in the 4 Ds (Democracy, Demography, Digitization and Delivery).
About Sanchar Mitra Scheme:
i.It is a youth oriented scheme led by the DoT, MoC, aimed to harness the energy and potential of young students to spread awareness about safe digital behavior.
ii.As per this scheme, student volunteers will be enrolled as ‘Sanchar Mitra’ to raise public awareness about mobile safety, telecom fraud prevention, and about government digital initiatives.
- They will also conduct outreach in communities, schools, and public spaces to educate citizens on responsible and secure use of telecom services.
iii.Under this scheme, the students from all eligible technical institutions which includes those in tier-1 and tier-2 cities, will be selected from various technical programs like: telecom, electronics, Information Technology (IT), or cybersecurity.
iv.The scheme focuses on skill development by offering top performers access based on best efforts, to Research & Development (R&D) projects, and telecom startups, involvement in policy and standards work, participation in field surveys and DoT initiatives, among others.
- Also, recognition and incentives under this scheme will be coordinated through DoT units, using existing resources and partnerships.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Excellence Awards 2024:
During the event, the DoT, under the MoC, announced the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Telecom Excellence Awards 2024, recognizing outstanding contributions in telecom innovation, skilling, services, manufacturing, and app development over the past three years.
2024 Awardees:
1.Parag Naik, Co-founder of Sankhya Labs;
2.Bengaluru (Karnataka)-based Niral Networks Private Limited;
3.Bengaluru-based Lekha Wireless;
4.Prof. Chandra Ramabhadra Murthy in Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc-Bengaluru); and
5.Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), an autonomous telecom R&D centre of DoT.
About Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Excellence Awards:
i.These awards were introduced by DoT in 2017, to encourage the telecom skill ecosystem.The award is named after noted Indian politician Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay to commemorate his birth centenary (100th).
- The nominations for these awards were called for the 1st time in 2018 and winners were later declared by DoT in 2020.
ii.Every year, DoT gives a maximum 5 awards to individuals, institutions, and organisations for their outstanding contributions in different areas of the telecommunication sector.
iii.Each recipient receives a shawl, citation/plaque and a cash amount of Rs 2 Lakh.
About Ministry of Communications (MoC):
Union Minister- Jyotiraditaya M. Scindia (Constituency- Guna, Madhya Pradesh, MP)
Minister of State (MoS) – Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani (Constituency- Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, AP)
