A Department of Telecommunications (DoT) committee reportedly plans to provide various preferences, including tax cuts, to indigenously manufactured telecoms equipment.

It is believed that the committee feels that these concessions as well as reservations for local mobile equipment manufacturers are necessary from a national security perspective.

This committee has cleared the proposal that mandates domestic operators to source 65 per cent of their annual hardware and network-related equipment from Indian companies by 2020.

The reservations for domestically manufactured equipment will be a part of the new telecoms policy 2011 which is scheduled to be unveiled by December 20111.

Prior to this, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had suggested that operators should be asked to source 80 per cent of their network equipment and other related infrastructure from domestic manufacturers by 2020. This also included network and other hardware produced by the manufacturing units of foreign vendors located in India.

TRAI had also recommended that companies owned by Indians and located in the country get 65 per cent of all telecom network orders by 2020. TRAI also sought that these proposals be implemented in a phased manner.

In addition to recommending that domestically manufactured products be given preferential market access, it had also proposed several incentives to begin telecoms equipment manufacturing in India.

The five-member DoT committee has endorsed TRAI?s proposals.