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The Telecom Ministry's plans for a new telecom policy have hit a roadblock with a number of other Ministries raising objections to various proposals.
While the Commerce Ministry has raised concerns over the move to give preferential access to locally manufactured telecom products, the Department of Financial Services does not want the telecom sector to be included in infrastructure financing schemes.
In addition, the Department of Space wants spectrum earmarked for satellite broadband services in the proposed policy.
The policy was supposed to have been presented to the Cabinet for approval on Thursday but the Telecom Ministry withdrew it at the last minute owing to the differences, according to top Government sources.
The Ministry of Commerce has told the Department of Telecom that the manufacturing policy should conform to international obligations. “The WTO agreements on subsidies and countervailing measures prohibits WTO members from granting incentives conditioned on the use of domestic over imported goods,” the Commerce Ministry said in its response to the draft telecom policy.
“Any requirement of indigenisation through value addition in the NTP-2012 would violate the prohibition of quantitative regulations on procurement from domestic sources under GATT,” it said.
The Ministry said that the only way for the Government is to establish national security concerns if it wants to make it mandatory for private telecom companies to buy locally made goods. “There must be clear and cogent justification why domestic procurement is imperative for protecting national interest,” the Commerce Ministry said.
The Ministry has also cautioned the DoT that the proposed migration to unified licence regime should be done after taking comments from the Department of Commerce.
Under the proposed telecom policy, all telecom companies would have to buy a certain percentage of their equipment requirements from manufacturers in the country. The policy also envisages giving telecom an infrastructure status and thus making the sector eligible for financing from organisations like India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. The Department of Financial Services said that this can be done only after the approval of an empowered committee and the Finance Minister.
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