Indian IT Minister claims we’ll see the first Indian smartphone brands in the near future | Infinium-tech

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2026, India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav is now claiming that the country will soon have its own smartphone brand (or brandsplural), and promises that the Indian government has done all the “homework” necessary for such an endeavour. This brand (or these brands, it is not clear whether we are talking about one or more) will be launched within the next 12 to 18 months and will be “global”.

However, it is difficult to understand what he really means. Will these be government brands? If not then who is behind them? Anyway, if this actually happens (and that’s no small “if”), we’re sure everything will be revealed closer to launch in the next few months.

Indian IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav

Here’s what Minister Vaishnav had to say:

Now we have a huge electronics ecosystem in our country, this is the time when we are going to bring our own Indian brands in mobile phones. We have done all the homework that needed to be done. Today and yesterday, we had important meetings with the entire ecosystem that produces thousands of things that need to go into a mobile phone. And that’s very pleasant, very satisfying progress. Very soon, maybe a year from now, or maybe maximum 18 months from now, we should have our own Indian brands coming out.

He also met with Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, as well as Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer of OpenAI, because of course he did – AI is very popular these days. For what it’s worth, Hassabis has expressed optimism about potential future cooperation with India.

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