Telecom equipment forms a critical and strategic element of building a secured telecom infrastructure and India aspires to become a major original equipment manufacturer of telecom and networking products. The PLI scheme is expected to attract large investments from global players and help domestic companies seize the emerging opportunities and become big players in the export market. The PLI scheme announced on 11th Nov 2020 approved financial outlay of Rs 12195 cr. over five year period.
Telecom Products
1.Core Transmission Equipment
2.4G/5G, Next Generation Radio Access Network and Wireless Equipment
3.Access & Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) Access Devices and Other Wireless Equipment
4.Enterprise equipment: Switches, Router.
India is the world’s second-largest telecommunications market. The Indian mobile economy is growing rapidly and will contribute substantially to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With situation of lockdown the sector saw highest usage of data & digital economy. India’s active internet user base to hit 639 mn by Dec 2020, Rural user base to hit ~300 mn by Dec’20. India has the world’s highest data usage per smartphone at an average of 9.8 GB per month. In March 2020, the government approved the Production Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large- scale Electronics Manufacturing. The scheme proposes production-linked incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components including Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units. The policy intended to attract investments worth US$ 100 billion in the sector by 2022.The Department of Information Technology intends to set up over 1 million internet-enabled common service centres across India as per the National e-Governance Plan. FDI cap in the telecom sector has been increased to 100% from 74%; out of 100%, 49% will be done through the automatic route and the rest will be done through the FIPB approval route. FDI of up to 100% is permitted for infrastructure providers offering dark fibre, electronic mail and voice mail. The Government of India has introduced Digital India programme under which all the sectors such as healthcare, retail, etc. will be connected through internet. Telecom tower sector driven by 5G and IoT will boom in India. Indian telecom tower companies are well placed to tap in on new opportunities that represent a revenue potential of Rs 200 bln – Rs 300 bln in 2023.
Road Ahead
Growth rate of 8-10% expected for next 5 years Country could become major manufacturing Hub in many sectors like Pharma, Auto Ancillaries, Electronics, Defence, Logistic & Transport.
BENEFICIARIES : Bharti Infratel, ITI ltd, Route Mobile, Nelco Ltd
