The India government is likely to release the draft of the new national telecom policy (NTP 2018) on May 1 to seek public comments, PTI reported.

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said: “The direction of the new policy, that we hope you will see as early as on May 1, will be reform-oriented, it will be investor friendly and bring down the cost of compliances.

Sundararajan, while speaking at the Annual General Meeting of US industry body Amcham, said the proposed National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2018 will be placed for public comments for 15-20 days.

NTP 2018 will trigger innovation and will focus on Make in India and provide opportunities for partnering with innovative companies.

After completion of public comments, the Department of Telecom (DoT) will start inter-ministerial consultation on the new telecom policy and thereafter approach Cabinet for final approval.