The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made a key move to promote domestic manufacturing in the telecom sector. In a recent notification, the DoT has mandated that 36 telecom products must now meet a minimum local content requirement of 50% or more for public procurement. To gather feedback, the DoT has invited stakeholders to submit comments on the draft notification within 15 days.
These revised procurement norms will apply to central government entities, including state-run companies and local bodies, as well as projects funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). “This notification applies to procurement by all offices, autonomous bodies, and government companies under the Government of India, as well as state and local bodies using funds from central schemes or partially funded by the Government of India. It also covers USOF-funded projects,” the DoT stated.
In line with the “Make in India” initiative, the government has excluded imported items from resellers and distributors when calculating local content. Additionally, royalties, technical charges paid overseas, and repackaged or refurbished goods will not count as local content.
The 36 identified products include routers, ethernet switches, media gateways, Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) equipment, IP-based soft switches, Unified Communication Systems, wireline PABXs, VSAT hub subsystems, satellite phones (S Bands), telecom batteries, IP audio/video phones, and IP/internet set-top boxes. Some products will require a local content minimum of over 50%, while others will need at least 65%.
The DoT noted that the listed products have sufficient domestic capacity and competition. The notification also prioritizes class-I suppliers, which must have a minimum of 50% local content. If a class-I supplier cannot meet demand, a class-II supplier with at least 20% local content may be considered. Manufacturers participating in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom products will be categorized as class-II suppliers.
To further support indigenous technologies, the DoT has introduced the option of including proof of concept in tenders and requests for proposals as an alternative to qualifying experience, where applicable.
