The Ministry of Communications has informed the parliament that an expert committee has been constituted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to recommend measures to promote the export of domestically-manufactured telecom equipment.
DoT issued an amendment to license conditions for telecom service providers (TSPs) on March 3, 2021, wherein, all licensees had been directed to connect only trusted products in their telecom networks with effect from June 6, 2021. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications, informed that a portal, trustedtelecom.gov.in, has been launched which facilitates the evaluation of telecommunication equipment as trusted products and intimation of the same to licensees. He added that the domestic telecom manufacturing industry is being incentivised via schemes such as the production-linked incentive (PLI) and Public Procurement Preference (PPP-MII).
Further, the minister stated that grievances from telecom equipment makers in respect of the import of telecom equipment from China have been received. The government has mandated registration of the companies incorporated/having beneficial ownership in countries sharing land border with India to be eligible to bid in the procurement. Also, the government has taken steps for streamlining and categorising the HS Codes so as to avoid mislabelling of imported items.
