Friday, November 08, 2013: Reports are rife that in order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, the government is planning to create an incentive package to attract Rs 8,742 billion ($141 billion approx). Over 50 per cent of this is proposed in the products manufacturing space, reports ET.
This comes in accordance to an internal Planning Commission estimate, which had stated that nearly 93 per cent of the Rs 9,43,8990 million ($152 billion approx) projected investment requirement in the Indian telecom sector during the 12th Plan (2012-17) will be supported by private telecom companies.
The department will be discussing a number of steps to attract FDI into local manufacturing at the upcoming Telecom Equipment Manufacturing Council (TEMC), scheduled end of this month. Topics discussed will include ways to cut down India’s manufacturing cost discrepancy vis-a-vis China, push global vendors to share technology to Indian suppliers and review local value addition targets.
There are some foreign equipment vendors who are of the opinion that the cost of manufacturing in India is 22.5 per cent higher as compared to China. Owing to this, the TEMC has been asked to review status of India’s telecom gear and electronics manufacturing ecosystem.
A top telecom industry executive in the know of the situation told ET, “The meeting will discuss ways to maximise FDI in telecom manufacturing over the next four years, keeping in mind international telecom equipment market projections.”
The meeting will see representatives of the biggest mobile phone companies operating on the GSM and CDMA technology platforms, telecom equipment makers, IT hardware vendors, banks, and members of the officials of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), telecom department (DoT) official said.
