Telecom Lead India: Through the National Telecom Policy
2012, the India government has diluted its focus on local manufacturing of
telecom equipments.
As per the draft NTP 2011, the government was keen to
promote the domestic production of telecommunication equipment to meet 80
percent Indian telecom sector demand through domestic manufacturing with a
value addition of 65 percent by the year 2020.
As per the National Telecom Policy 2012 approved by the
government today, the government is just trying to make India a global telecom
manufacturing hub.
The government is not clear about its targets.
Usage of locally produced telecom equipments was one of
the demands of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA).
We welcome the Cabinet nod for NTP 2012. But nothing
concrete has been done to promote domestic production of telecom equipments in
the country,” said Vinoo Goyal, senior advisor, TEMA.
TEMA officials felt that in the past NTPs – 1994, 1999
and 2004, respective governments did not support local production.
Recently, the commerce ministry rejected TEMA’s demand
for preferential market access to locally produced telecom equipments.
The NTP 2012 is not talking about preferential market
access. This will be a big boost for foreign equipment vendors such as Nokia
Siemens Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, NEC, Cisco, etc.
Recently, TEMA said the Indian telecom equipment market
is expected to grow to $40 billion by the year 2020, up from current level of
$10 billion.
During the release of the draft National Telecom Policy
2011, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said NTP 2011 provides a roadmap for India
to become a leader in cutting edge, state of the art technologies through
R&D and creation and incorporation of Indian IPRs in global standards. It
was meant for promoting indigenous R&D, innovation and manufacturing that
serve domestic and foreign markets.
The NTP 2011 was keen to promote the domestic production
of telecommunication equipment to meet 80 percent Indian telecom sector demand
through domestic manufacturing with a value addition of 65 percent by the year
2020.
NTP 2011 also suggested preferential market access for
domestically manufactured telecommunication products including mobile devices,
SIM cards with enhanced features etc. with special emphasis on Indian products
for which IPRs reside in India to address strategic and security concerns of
the Government, consistent with international commitments.
