Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Friday said it was the right time for India to dive deep into telecom equipment manufacturing. The Centre plans to set up a telecommunication equipment manufacturing zone in the country as the sector is expected to attract lots of foreign direct investment in the future, he said.

“We are in discussions with telecom companies to set up a telecom manufacturing zone. We would like to be a plug-and-play system where all the basic infrastructure is set up by the Government of India,” he told the media after inaugurating Cisco’s manufacturing plant in collaboration with Flex at Sunguwarchatiram, 50 km west of Chennai, on Friday. The discussions with both domestic and international players are still in a nascent stage, he added. “We urge both domestic and telecom majors to strengthen their ecosystems in India,” he said.

When asked if the location of the zone has been finalised, the minister said, “what we would like to do is first have this conversation with everyone. Look at the kind of telecom equipment companies that would be interested and who the anchor tenants are. And then have a discussion with them in terms of site location. There are two or three options that we’re looking at,” he said.

Big success

The PLI scheme has been hugely successful with 42 companies having become part of it and resulting in production of close to ₹55,000 crore; about ₹11,500 crore worth of exports; creation of close to 22,000 jobs and investment of ₹3,781 crore. “The greatest potential today is in India. Our telecom equipment manufacturers are gearing themselves up for this opportunity. In the last 19 months we produced our own 4G stack which is huge. We are only the 6th country in the world to have our own domestic 4G stack. Our companies will now compete against the likes of Nokias and Siemens,” he said.

The minister later visited the 5G Testbed at IIT Madras. Researchers at IIT Madras and the 5G Testbed have developed indigenous 5G systems and are currently working on designing and developing 6G technology. In addition, they also participate in global standardisation activities and develop Indian Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in this critical sector. The Testbed is available to industry, academia, research institutions and government bodies besides start-ups for various R&D, product development and capacity building activities.

Scindia said initiatives like the indigenous 5G Testbed Project at IIT Madras are not only a testament to India’s growing innovation capabilities but is also a vital step towards becoming the third-largest economy in the world. “By harnessing the potential of our young talent, we are driving towards an Aatmanirbhar Bharat — self-reliant and globally competitive,” he said.

Indigenous technology manufacturing will be the key driver to India’s economic growth, creating employment opportunities, fostering innovation and boosting India’s global stature in critical sectors like telecommunications, the minister said. V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, higher educational institutions have dedicated themselves to Viksit Bharat @ 2047 by exploring and developing new-age technologies. The 5G project is one such effort.