The government’s recent STQC (Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification) for internet-connected CCTV cameras is likely to boost localisation in the product line. While the majority of the global players are yet to get their portfolio STQC-certified. According to industry insiders, 5-6 Indian companies have already obtained STQC-certification, industry insiders said. Some Indian CCTV OEMs are even engaging with local start-ups to use Indian chipsets in their CCTVs soon.

CCTV OEMs say that while global firms (many of whom are Chinese players) are still reworking product specs in line with STQC tests, Indian players who make their own hardware and software stack already meet the criteria and are able to get the certification sooner.

To strengthen the quality and security of surveillance equipment in India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has mandated STQC for all CCTV products effective April 9, 2025. Though STQC does not impose restrictions on global components, the security tests carried out and the “trusted supply chain” requirements is helping keep away imports of modules from China.

Over 80 per cent of the industry comprised those importing large modules of the product from China and then assembling it here; they are all now reworking products since getting certified may be tough, Sanjeev Sehgal, MD, Sparsh CCTV said. At Sparsh, we use chipsets from Taiwan and the US, and are now also working closely with an Indian chip design start-up to localise chipsets/processors, he added. “More than 80 per cent of our products already have over 70 per cent localisation and you will soon see our products with processors made in India,” Sehgal added.

Segal said that there is a clear push from authorities to replicate this across product lines. “Recently, there was also a match making session by MeitY, where they connected OEMs like us with Indian enterprises making chipsets for such applications,” he said.

Nikhil Rajpal, the founder and CEO of Qubo, the smart devices brand from the Hero Group, notes that while the STQC is more a certification of the security systems and architecture and does not restrict where components must come from, the new rules are more beneficial for players who are already making everything in-house. “Our hardware and software stack are all in-house and that’s how we were among the first to get STQC certified,” he said, hailing it as a step in the right direction for indigenisation.

Varun Gupta, senior analyst, Counterpoint Research, notes that in case of SoCs, the Indian ecosystem is still not ready yet, but this will help towards faster go-to-market for those who are currently designing and developing chipsets. We also anticipate a PLI scheme may soon be on the cards for the CCTV sector, he adds.

Chip design players are also enthused by the opportunities. “STQC is a total systems certification; this is an opportunity for chip designers like us to confirm our specifications to the standards set in the market,” Shashwath TR., co-founder and CEO of Mindgrove Technologies, a chip design start-up said. It will help us also clinch government orders easily, he adds.

The new certification has also nudged MNCs to accelerate localisation plans and ratio.

Honeywell earlier this month announced the launch of the 50 Series line of CCTV products, marking it their first-ever locally designed and produced camera portfolio. The cameras are conceptualised, designed, and developed within India and are Class 1 certified (the highest category under the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy).

“What it means is that the entire hardware design, software, and all of it is completely conceptualised, designed and developed by our engineers here. The manufacturing is also by our Indian partner,” Jasmeet Bhatia, General Manager, Security and Access Solutions (SAS), Building Automation, Honeywell India, said. “While global products too will get security-certified under STQC, the system helps nudge companies to build local capabilities of engineering and manufacturing, where we are ahead of the curve,” he adds. Honeywell is in the final stages of getting the STQC certification for their CCTV portfolio.

Published on June 23, 2025