Ericsson looks at supplying to global chain from India

BARCELONA (PTI) -- Telecom equipment maker Ericsson today said it is looking to support its global product supply chain by ramping up its production capacity in India, similar to what it did in China.

"In China, we have established ourselves long time back for supplying to global chain. Now, we are looking at doing same thing from India. We have to see how those plan work. With right incentive, we are prepared to do it from India," Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg said here.

He, however, did not provide specific details.

Ericsson has four manufacturing facilities across the globe. In India, it has one telecom equipment production facility in Jaipur.

Commenting on the National Telecom Policy in works, Ericsson's Head for India Region Fredrik Jejdling said the company is looking for level-playing field with domestic players and has got a relief with relaxation in the quota that was proposed earlier.

"The consultation round that we had in India is very open and transparent. There has been relaxation made in local content procurement which is very encouraging," he said.

According to sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), only 12-13 per cent of the locally made products, produced with the aid of foreign vendors in 2009-10, were used in the sector.

However, purely India-made products formed just three per cent of the total market. The Indian telecom sector is largely dependent on imports.

Recently, the Union Cabinet had approved a proposal to give preference to domestically manufactured electronic goods while procuring items which have security implications for the country.

The government procures electronic items to meet the defence and security needs of the country and domestically manufactured electronic items are promoted to ensure that information processed through these equipment are not compromised.

Industry estimates show that demand for electronics products in the country will touch USD 400 billion by 2020.

With the existing rate of growth, the production of electronics hardware in the country is likely to grow to USD 104 billion by 2020, creating a demand and supply gap of USD 296 billion, which would have to be met through imports.

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