DoT forms 4 task forces to boost domestic telecom manufacturing, remove hurdles

NEW DELHI: The department of telecom (DoT) has formed four task forces to recommend to the government measures that will boost the domestic telecom manufacturing ecosystem and remove the bottlenecks, an official memorandum said.
The development follows a round table between communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and 42 chiefs of telecom gear makers early this month where he identified the need for creating a task force to resolve issues that the companies raised before him.
Under one of the task forces, the DoT has sought recommendation for a phased manufacturing programme for telecom gear manufacturing to boost domestic component supply chain ecosystem as well as attract global players. This task force will be co-chaired by state-run research arm C-DoT CEO RK Upadhyay, the memorandum dated December 20 said.
In 2016, the government notified a phased manufacturing programme for developing the mobile phone manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
The task force under chairmanship of Tejas Networks CEO Sanjay Nayak will study the present ecosystem and recommend to the government potential 4-5 chip developments under scheme like Telecom Technology Development Fund, Semicon Policy and policy intervention required for reducing dependence on imports.
The third task force will do a study on the time taken in custom clearance and air cargo movement, infrastructure available and suggest measures for improving lead time and reduce inventory in production and sales, setting up Free Trade Warehousing Zones at key airports etc to resolve logistics issues.
Another task force set up under chairmanship of telecom gear makers body VOICE director general RK Bhatnagar will identify new opportunities for development and manufacturing of 5G products in the country that will be required under Digital India, data centres, railway modernisation etc.
"These task forces shall submit their reports within 45 days," the memorandum said.