After putting the ‘preferential market access’ policy (PMA) on hold, the government today said it will “review and revisit” the policy of asking companies, mainly in the telecom sector, to compulsorily source domestically manufactured electronic goods.
The PMA mandated a phased increase in procurement from domestic manufacturers for telecom companies, among others, a clause that was opposed by international trade associations besides the domestic telecom industry.
The mandatory sourcing requirement for the private companies was put on hold on Friday and today the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement said the policy was being reviewed.
“The entire policy on providing preference to domestically manufactured electronic goods (PMA Policy) will be revisited and reviewed. The overall policy on PMA will be recalibrated and submitted to the Cabinet,” the statement said.
The preferential market access policy approved by Cabinet on February 2, 2012 called for providing preference to domestically manufactured electronic products, in procurement of those electronic products which have security implications for the country and in government procurement for its own use.
The policy has seen major opposition from US based groups where the government itself has limited imports of technology product from Chinese companies on security grounds including cyber espionage threat.
The PMA policy has two aspects, one relating to government procurement and the other relating to private sector procurement.
While the government has issued some notification on sourcing of certain products, it has put on hold all the notifications that are to be issued with respect to private sector procurement.
“No notifications on PMA in the private sector on security related products will be issued till the PMA policy s reviewed and any notifications in the draft stage will be withheld,” the statement said.
PMO has called for major change in the new PMA policy of removing the entire clause regarding preference to domestic manufacturer on security related products that are to be used by private sector.
“The revised proposal on PMA in the private sector for security related products will not have domestic manufacturing requirements, percentage based or otherwise,” the statement said.
The PMO has asked department of electronics and information technology to “bring a final note to the Cabinet on the revised policy within 4 weeks.”