CAN TELECOM ‘MAKE IN INDIA'?

Manufacturing in India has been gaining currency due to the recent geopolitical shift. Does the country have enough policy support to become a global supply hub?

- PRATIMA HARIGUNANI

Indian Telcos are standing at a cliff of new opportunities and struggles alike as they gaze deep into the real translation of these words Make-in-India. It’s not a cliff-hanger but it’s not some Internet superhighway either.

The year 2020 would stay book-marked in the annals of many industries. For the telecom sector, in particular, it has been a page-turner in a good way. Digitization exploded since March 2020, work-from-home models became a staple diet for many enterprises and people kept slurping Netflix and Dalgona Coffee recipes at never-before frenzy. All this meant more data, more customers and more revenues.

Then comes a special para that connotes even bigger markets and money if the telecom players can read it right; as the thrust on swadeshi got more and more serious, the Make-in-India question dashed from the back-burner to the front-burner for many players. While the industry tries to read into the sub-text of this big turning point, here are some ingredients worth considering as we stir the pot.

Are we ready for factories?

India has traditionally been known as a leader in the IT services sector, not for product design and development. According to Samsung Semiconductor India R&D (SSIR) Managing Director Balajee Sowrirajan, “This makes the Make-in-India initiative relevant and critical to boost innovation and advancement. There are several initiatives that can augment the Make-in-India shift, beginning with bolstering our R&D.”