Telecom Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, chaired a round-table with the local telecom equipment manufacturers on Saturday in which he said the government has set up task forces to boost the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the telecom component manufacturing sector.

He said the task force has been created to aggregate demand under various government departments such as Railways, Power and Defence and channelise it to players who are manufacturing under the PLI scheme.

“During the meeting, many new ideas came, for which we have set up five-six task forces. A task force has been set up for creating the component ecosystem. Another task force has been set up for developing four-five chips, then taking those chips from design to production. A third task force has been set up to develop highly skilled workers and designers in the telecom sector,” Vaishnaw said.

He said India has to become a telecom leader and PLI scheme will play a big role in that regard. “Indian domestic manufacturers are at the doorstep of exports and it will soon become a leader in exports,” he said after meeting representatives from all the 42 companies who have been chosen for the PLI scheme.

The companies include Dixon Technologies, Tejas Networks, Shyam Teleco, HFCL, ITI and Nokia.

Demand

The Minister said that telecom operators in the country are also supporting local manufacturers. “There are demands in various departments. If those demands are organised and channelised, and are given to units under the ‘Make-in-India’ and PLI, then it will be a significant boost for manufacturing,” Vaishnaw said.

Telecom gear makers also expressed concerns around import of network gear from China, which is being routed through other neighbouring countries, and the Minister said such issues were also discussed in details.

“PLI scheme is an important part of manufacturing, which was launched last year. We discussed about different aspects including skills, standards, manufacturing and issues related to customs on supply chains...all departments including Department of Electronics and IT, Customs, Niti Aayog, and Department of Commerce, were present to clear the doubts of the manufacturers,” Vaishnaw added.

According to an industry veteran present during the meeting, the Minister has assured all help that the government could do, to promote electronics production in India. “This was a fruitful meeting and one of the first to address all the doubts of the manufacturers. In the four hours of the meeting, the Minister cleared all our doubts and has also assured that his task was not only to provide PLI, but to further support the sector as much as he can at the later stages also,” the source told BusinessLine.

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