Home bred telecom equipment and handset makers could soon see a spurt in orders while their multinational counterparts will be compelled to setup a manufacturing base in India if the draft National Telecom Policy is implemented.
This is because telecom service providers that purchase India-made telecom equipment gear (that are comparable in price and performance to imported products) and actively participate in trials of newly created products would now be ‘incentivised'.
Soft credit
“…provide preferential market access for domestically manufactured telecommunication products including mobile devices, SIM cards with enhanced features etc. with special emphasis on Indian products for which IPRs reside in India to address strategic and security concerns of the Government, consistent with international commitments,” the policy document stated, as one of its objectives.
The draft policy, which has been created with an eye on making India a major manufacturing hub for telecommunications, also proposes to make available soft credit to product manufacturers for domestic deployment and exports.
“The market preference for “Indian Products” is a key step and we look forward to the implementation of this initiative at the earliest. As leading industry association of telecom manufacturers, we are keen to work with the government to develop an effective implementation framework that will yield the desired results,” said Mr Ashok Agarwal, Director-General, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers' Association of India.
“This progressive policy covering all aspects of the telecom industry will not only move the telecom industry forward in India but also position India's telecom sector in a global leadership position,” Mr Shivakumar Reddy, Managing Director; Kavveri Telecom Products, said in a statement.
The telecom ministry also proposes to make funds available for research and development, creation of intellectual property rights, entrepreneurship, manufacturing, commercialising and deployment of state-of-the-art telecom products and services.
“Making India a manufacturing equipment hub will promote development of technology and self-reliance and create ground for India to take leadership position in both telecom equipment and handset market. But the pre-requisite for this is support to R&D in all forms. This will also help address some of the security concerns,” said Mr Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
Creation of indian IPRs
The policy document further said, “Emphasis will be given to creation of Indian IPRs which go into international standards as well as in product manufacturing in implementation of major programmes and projects as a vehicle to develop Brand India,” it said.
The DoT has stated in the past that the endeavour is to meet 80 per cent of Indian telecom sector demand through domestic manufacturing by the year 2020.