The government will include the 5G products under the public procurement Make in India policy after there is an improvement in domestic manufacturing capacity of such products in the country, according to a gazette notification by the department of telecommunications (DoT).
The public procurement norms contain local value addition or local content requirements for companies to be considered as eligible for government tenders, which includes procurements by public sector companies, central ministries departments, etc. The order contains as many as 36 telecom products, such as routers, ethernet switches, media gateways, customer premises equipment, GPON equipment etc.
In a bid to boost locally developed players, the government has increased minimum local content to 65% for suppliers on certain products from over 50%.
“It is noted that 5G products with indigenous technology are presently being tested in the country. Table-A shall be reviewed from time to time and addition of 5G products/virtual routers shall be considered based on manufacturing capacity,” DoT said in the gazette notification.
Table-A in the document contains a list of the products with their minimum local content percentage.
“Domestic manufacturers and their associations are encouraged to pro-actively provide evidence of manufacturing capacity from time to time to DoT to enable inclusion of such products,” the notification added.
In the draft version, DoT did not include the 5G products as part of the public procurement policy.
“It is appreciated that the government acknowledged that testing of 5G equipments is happening in the country. To boost manufacturing of such equipments, more market access should be given to local companies,” said Rakesh Bhatnagar, director general of VoICE, which represents domestic equipment players.
According to Bhatnagar, unconnected villages, private network by BSNL, and ongoing network deployment is a huge opportunity to spur the manufacturing of 5G products.
“The fact that indigenous 5G products are currently being tested is a testament to India’s rapidly advancing capabilities. By encouraging domestic manufacturers to provide evidence of their capacity and by periodically reviewing the inclusion of 5G and virtual routers, India is ensuring it remains competitive on a global scale,” said Paritosh Prajapati, CEO of GX Group.
According to Prajapati, the government’s push to promote domestic manufacturing and ensure that local producers are included in critical infrastructure projects, positions India as a telecom manufacturing hub for the world.
As per the notification, the bidders offering imported products will fall under the category of non-local suppliers. Such companies cannot claim themselves as Class-I local suppliers/Class-II local suppliers by claiming the services such as transportation, insurance, installation, commissioning, training and after sales service support, as local value addition, the notification said.
For startups registered by Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the condition of prior turnover and prior experience may be relaxed provided they meet the necessary quality & technical specifications.
Post the notification, the government has categorised telecom manufacturers who are beneficiaries of the telecom production linked incentive scheme as deemed Class-II local suppliers for the products specified and upto the specified period.