Local mfg must for telecom bidding

By agencies   |   Thursday, 06 October 2005, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: To boost the telecom manufacturing in the country, the Communication and IT Minister, Dayanidhi Maran urged the private telecom service provider to procure network equipment made locally. Moving forward in this direction the state-owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have made it compulsory for the telecom equipment supplier to have a local manufacturing facility. “The Department of Telecom (DoT) also proposed the private player to follow the methodology,” said Maran while speaking at the Annual Conference of Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA). Maran said that the pro-active role-played by the Government in facilitation of foreign direct investment (FDI) and setting up of manufacturing base has shown optimistic results. Ericsson and ITI-Alcatel have started indigenous manufacture of Base Tower Station (BTS). Nokia is setting up its manufacturing unit near Chennai with an investment of Rs 670 crore. Apart from this, Motorola, Flextronics, Siemens and LG have plans to invest in telecom manufacturing equipments.