Best opportunity to do in India now, says Sanjay Kaul of Cisco, Telecom News, ET Telecom

NEW DELHI: There is a better opportunity than ever before in the country to launch localized manufacturing or manufacturing in India, and if India builds a semiconductor and component ecosystem, the US-based company could go very far, a summit Cisco said the executive.

“We now have a lifetime opportunity. Because every tech industry is definitely looking for an alternative destination for manufacturing, but India needs to build the ecosystem especially for semiconductors and components. With an ecosystem in place, I think Cisco will go big. »Cisco (President Asia-Pacific and Japan) Sanjay Kaul mentionned.

Kaul was speaking at 5G Congress – 2021, organized by ETTElecom.

The executive further said the company’s plans were on the move and they wanted to see how the government is creating an infrastructure and regulatory framework and added that the production-linked incentive program (PLI) recently unveiled was a good step in that direction.

“We have always been positive, and the Production Incentive Program (PLI) is a good step in making India a global manufacturing hub,” he said, adding that the company was working with the Indian government for two years on the initiative. .

Kaul believes 5G and Wi-Fi6 would work wonders for a country like India.

“For India, I think it’s perfect to combine 5G with Wi-Fi 6 and use Wi-Fi in hotspots where you don’t have frequency interference issues,” said he added.

The recently unveiled PLI program would offer manufacturers cash backs of between 1% and 4% on additional sales of locally made products over four years, with 2019-2020 as the base year. Cisco welcomes this development.

“The Indian government announced this entire PLI program to promote local manufacturing. I think they would end up being something like or incentivizing almost $ 2 billion,” said Prashant Singhal, TMT Leader- Emerging Markets at EY, adding that the policy contemplates having Rs 2 lakh crores of exports that can come in from India on the equipment side.

Singhal said Wi-Fi 6 is growing worldwide with launches in a few countries. “I think it’s something that will get the speeds going. The home or home experience on 5G will be as good as you know, the outdoor experience or maybe better.”

“5G is advancing very quickly around the world. I think we know there are almost 2.2 billion connections expected by 2024, which will represent 27% of the total telecom population,” Singhal added. .

Almost 140 operators, he says, have started providing 5G services globally