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Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia said it is exploring opportunities to manufacture more products in India in a cost-competitive manner to serve both the local and global market.
Nokia’s India spokesperson said that the company was on track to fulfill its investment and production commitments under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson, in a separate statement, said 5G spectrum auction<\/a> with 100% fiberization with Public Private Partnership (PPP) model by 2025 will help bridge the digital divide for an inclusive development of the nation in-line with the ‘Digital India’ vision.
“Design-led initiatives for 5G under the PLI scheme<\/a> and 5% of USOF for R&D purposes will strengthen the ‘Make in India’ initiative, and contribute to making India a global manufacturing hub,” said Nitin Bansal, MD, India & Head-Networks - Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India at Ericsson.
The government will likely allocate around Rs 4,000 crore for a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage 5G design-led manufacturing, the announcement for which is expected later this week, ET reported on Tuesday.
The finance minister on Tuesday announced the launch of a PLI scheme towards design led manufacturing of 5G equipment in her budget speech. A senior official told ET that the funds for the PLI scheme would come from the already existing telecom equipment<\/a> PLI scheme. The corpus for the telecom equipment PLI is Rs12,951 crore but the government expects to offer incentives worth only around Rs 7,400 crore, leaving surplus funds.
Japanese conglomerate NEC Corporation<\/a>, in turn, observed that fiberization will bolster telecom infrastructure to support fifth-generation telecom technology. “The proposed PLI scheme for design led manufacturing for the 5G ecosystem will also fast track rollout,” said Aalok Kumar, President and CEO, NEC Corporation India.
“It also looks at boosting the economy with provisions for the start-up ecosystem, infra, clean energy. The focus on skilling, digital learning and clean mobility will create opportunities for Indian youth and will also go a great way in addressing the skill gap in various industries leading to an inclusive development,” said David Li, CEO, Huawei India<\/a>.
KG Purushothaman, Partner and Telecom Sector Leader, KPMG in India, said the Budget 2022<\/a> has brought in optimism for the telecom sector. “The commitment of the government towards the launch of 5G by FY23, new PLI schemes to promote manufacturing of 5G equipment and strengthening of digital infrastructure will boost the momentum in the sector.”