In an effort to boost the indigenous manufacturing of telecom equipment, the Union Government may confer preferential status to ‘Made in India’ products in the new telecom policy 2011 (NTP’11). According to R Chandrashekhar, secretary, Department of Telecom (DoT), the broader telecom policy should include appropriate measures to encourage domestic telecom equipment manufacturing.
The push for preferential treatment for ‘Made in India’ products is part of the government’s agenda to reduce the widening trade deficit created by imports. The decision to encourage telecom equipment manufacturing is in line with the recommendations made in the IT Task Force report being processed by the Department of Information Technology. Estimated reports have shown that India’s consumption of electronics products (including in the telecom space) will be worth US$ 400 billion by 2020.