The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has identified 36 products, including routers, ethernet switches, and GPON equipment, that will require a minimum local content of over 50 per cent (65 per cent for certain items) under new public procurement norms. Stakeholders, such as telecom operators and manufacturers, can provide comments until September 27, 2024.
These norms will apply to all procurement by government offices, state-run companies, and local bodies under central schemes, including projects funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). The government has also excluded imported items sourced from local resellers and certain other costs from the local content calculation to strengthen the Make in India initiative.
Class-I suppliers, with local content of 50 per cent or more, will be prioritised in procurement, while class-II suppliers, with local content of 20 per cent to 50 per cent, will be considered if class-I suppliers are unavailable. Manufacturers under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom products will be classified as class-II suppliers.
Additionally, the DoT allows proof of concept (PoC) to be included in tenders and requests for proposals (RFPs) as a substitute for qualifying experience, promoting indigenous technologies.
