Lok Sabha Question No. 2810 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Boosting Domestic Manufacturing
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Krishna Pal Singh Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2810 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## BOOSTING DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING

## 2810.   DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV :

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the progress of design led manufacturing under the telecom PLI Scheme along with the budget outlay of the scheme;

(b) the measures taken by the Government to boost domestic manufacturing and exports under the scheme;

(c) the  progress  made  under  the  Telecom  Technology  Development  Fund  Scheme  (TTDF), especially with respect to supporting research and development initiatives in the field of telecom technology;

(d) the measures being taken to encourage collaboration between industry and academia under TTDF to foster innovation and skill development in the telecom sector;

(e) whether there is any initiative/scheme of the Government to provide connectivity in areas where terrestrial connectivity is not available; and

- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) to (d) Government is committed to develop entire electronics and telecom manufacturing ecosystem in India.

To develop telecom technologies and promote manufacturing, multiple initiatives have been taken. These are enumerated as follows:

## PLI in telecom sector:

Production  Linked  Incentive  (PLI)  Scheme  for  Telecom  and  Networking  Products  was launched in June 2021. Within a short span, it has catalyzed production of telecom equipment in India. The details are as follows:

-  Total of 33 telecom and networking products.
-  Incentives ranging from 4 to 7%.
-  Additional 1% incentive for MSMEs for first 3 years.
-  Additional 1% incentive for products 'Designed in India'.

-  Total 42 applicant companies including 28 MSMEs.
-  Total financial outlay:  Rs. 12,195 Crore.



Achievements of PLI in telecom sector till date:

|                              | Total commitment applicants   | Progress till 31 st October, 2023   |
|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| Investment                   | 4,014 Cr                      | 2,725 Cr                            |
| Incremental Sales            | 2,37,807 Cr                   | 38,999 Cr                           |
| Additional direct employment | 44,494                        | 15,561                              |

-  Under telecom PLI scheme, products worth Rs 8,804 Crore have been exported till date.

## TTDF:

-  Government  launched  Telecom  Technology  Development  Fund  (TTDF)  Scheme  on 01.10.2022.
-  TTDF is  aimed  at  funding  research  and  development  of  technologies,  products,  and services for providing telecom services in rural and remote areas.
-  More than 405 applications have been received under TTDF scheme from Start-ups, MSMEs, Academia, etc. After due assessment, 8 applications with a total outlay of Rs. 266.05  Crore  has  been  approved  so  far.  These  include  setting  up  Advanced  Optical Communications Test Bed and 6G Tera Hertz Test Bed with Orbital Angular Momentum and Multiplexing.

## DCIS Scheme:

-  Government has launched Digital Communications Innovation Square (DCIS) Scheme to  promote  and  support  translation  of  innovative  ideas  and  knowledge  by  Startups/MSMEs.
-  Government has supported more than 96 start-ups/MSMEs till date with Rs. 74.7 Crore as grant-in-aid under this scheme.
-  These innovators are working on backhaul radio and communication technologies, LTE Advanced,  5G/6G  and  future generation access technologies,  Software  Defined Networks (SDNs) etc.

## Made in India 5G:

-  India has witnessed one of the fastest roll-out of 5G anywhere in the world with more than 4 Lakh sites commissioned in less than 14 months.
-  A significant amount of equipment used in roll-out of the 5G is 'Made in India'.

## Developing indigenous 5G

-  Under Atmanirbhar Bharat, indigenous 4G/5G telecom stack has been developed and is under deployment in BSNL network.

## Developing ecosystem:

Government of India's goal is to broaden and deepen the country's electronic manufacturing ecosystem as well as increase India's participation in electronics Global Value Chains (GVCs). Government has taken several measures to boost electronics manufacturing. They include:

-  Production Linked Incentive Schemes (PLI LSEM and PLI IT Hardware)
-  Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS)
-  Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters 2.0 (EMC 2.0).
-  Further,  a  program  for  Development  of  Semiconductors  and  Display  manufacturing Ecosystem  was  also  introduced,  wherein,  schemes,  viz.,  Scheme  for  setting  up  of Semiconductor and Display Fabs, Scheme for setting up of Compound Semiconductors /  Silicon  Photonics  /  Sensors  Fab  /  Discrete  Semiconductors  Fab  and  Semiconductor Assembly,  Testing,  Marking  and  Packaging  (ATMP)  /  Outsourced  Semiconductor Assembly  and  Test  (OSAT)  and  Design  Linked  Incentive  (DLI)  Schemes  are  being implemented.

## Impact of Government initiatives:

-  As a result of these measures the domestic production of electronic items has increased significantly  from  Rs  1,80,454  Crore  (USD 29.8 Billion) in  2014-15 to Rs. 8,22,350 Crore (USD 102 Billion) in 2022-23.
-  Further, construction on first semiconductor unit under the Semicon India program has commenced in Sanand, Gujarat.
-  A prominent semiconductor company has started its largest semiconductor design centre in Bengaluru.
-  Another prominent semiconductor  company has  collaborated with  Indian  Institute  of Science to train a large pool of engineers conversant in semiconductor technologies.
-  Further,  Mobile  production  has  increased  from  Rs  18,900  Crore  in  2014-15  to  Rs 3,50,000  Crore  in  2022-23.  From  about  78%  import  dependence  in  2014,  India  has reached a stage where 99.2% of all mobiles sold in India are 'Made in India'.

(e) & (f) The  Government  through  BharatNet  Project,  is  providing  connectivity  through satellite in areas where terrestrial connectivity is not available. In BharatNet Phase- II, 5,166 GPs have been planned with satellite connectivity. Further, in order to provide high speed data services through satellite, the Government has issued Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) authorization under Unified License to two companies.

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