The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) proposal to continue the reservation quota policy for ITI Limited by reserving 30 per cent of the procurement orders placed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) for the products manufactured by the state-owned telecom equipment maker. Further, the procurement quota will also include a 20 per cent reservation for orders related to turnkey projects such as GSM network roll-out and Wi-Fi services by BSNL and MTNL and BharatNet project network roll-out by BBNL.

As per an official statement by the government, the provision of procurement quota from BSNL, MTNL and BBNL will provide further boost to ITI’s order book and help in improving its financial health. The move may also help in generating more job opportunities in the company particularly in the field of new telecom technologies.

The validity of reservation benefit extended to ITI had expired on May 31, 2018. According to the government, the aforesaid policy measures shall remain in force for a period of three years with effect from the date of approval of CCEA. The policy shall again be reviewed considering the financial health of ITI after the expiry of this period.