The $54 billion US-based Cisco, a leader in networking and security solutions, in collaboration with Flex on Friday launched its manufacturing facility at Sunkuwarchatiram, about 50 km west of Chennai. This marks the first phase of a multiyear investment projected to generate over $1.3 billion annually in combined exports and domestic production.
The facility, expected to create 1,200 jobs, will initially focus on Cisco’s Network Convergence System (NCS) 540 Series of routers.
The facility was inaugurated by Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Communications, Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco, and Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa.
A release says this is the next milestone in Cisco and Flex’s longstanding 25-year partnership to ramp up manufacturing globally with speed, resilience, and sustainable practices.
Significant innovation and technical advancements are planned in the next phase, including printed circuit board assembly components with several layers, products requiring, at times, thousands of individual components, and industrial-grade products built to endure severe environmental conditions. The release says Cisco is broadening its technical manufacturing capabilities to enable additional customers and market segments.
In his remarks at the inauguration, Robbins said, “I met the Prime Minister in May 2023 and told him that we would open the facility, and here we are with our first product coming off the lines.”
“We are so excited about India as a local market and export hub for Cisco. We are thrilled and excited to be a part of the GDP growth in this country, in the explosion of manufacturing and IT; leadership in telecom. We have been in India for 29 years,” he said. “We have never been more excited about the opportunity here. We are looking towards an incredible future in India,” he said.
Minister Scindia urged Cisco to plant its foot firmly in India. It is time for the Cisco ecosystem to be set up nowhere else in the world except the US and India. The Centre is setting up a Telecom Manufacturing Zone and requested Robbins partner with the government and architect it together so that it can be a plug-and-play system.
Tamil Nadu minister Rajaa said the State has become a critical hub for manufacturing and technology innovation. Cisco’s start of manufacturing is an example of this. He said it is now important that the country move from service to product development.