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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6197
TO BE ANSWERED ON 01ST APRIL, 2026
IMPORTS OF TELECOM INSTRUMENTS
6197. DR. BACHHAV SHOBHA DINESH:
SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL:
ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:
MS. PRANITI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that Indian imports of telecom instruments have grown at
an annual rate of 7% in the five-year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24, with almost 40% of 4G/5G
equipment and antennas coming from China and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the steps taken by the Government under ‘Make in India’ for boosting the domestic
manufacturing of telecom instruments;
(c) the details of steps taken by the Government to control the high costs of testing, compliance
and certification for MSMEs; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to incentivise investment for research, development, and
intellectual property rights for telecom components and their local manufacturers?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) The imports under the principal commodity “telecom instruments” have increased from USD
13,333 million in 2019-20 to 17,010 million in 2023-24. Further, the import from China during the
period has increased from USD 5,553 million to 6,371 million.
(b) The Government has undertaken several initiatives under ‘Make in India’ to boost domestic
manufacturing of telecom instruments, including:
The Government of India introduced Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) order
to give preference in Government procurement for goods and services which meet the
minimum domestic value addition criteria thereby encouraging indigenous production.
PLI Scheme for Telecom and Networking Products to promote domestic manufacturing of
33 telecom equipment categories including 4G/5G equipment, routers, switches, customer
premise equipments etc.;
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing
(LSEM) to promote manufacturing of mobile phones and specified electronic components,
leading to significant growth in production and exports; and
1 Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) to strengthen the domestic
component ecosystem and reduce import dependency.
(c) The Government has taken several steps to reduce the burden of testing, compliance and
certification, particularly for MSMEs, including:
Waiver of evaluation fee under the Mandatory Testing and Certification of
Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE);
Enhancement of validity of MTCTE certificates from 5 years to 10 years; and
Reimbursement of part of testing and certification charges for certain types of entities.
(d) The Government has taken several steps to incentivise investment for research, development,
and intellectual property rights for telecom components and their local manufacturer, including:
Launched the Digital Communication Innovation Square (DCIS) scheme in the year 2021-22
to provide financial assistance to Start-ups and MSMEs for research, development,
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) creation and manufacturing, leading to development of
market ready telecom products.
Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) was launched on 1st October 2022 under
the Digital Bharat Nidhi (erstwhile Universal Service Obligation Fund) to support investment
in research, development, and intellectual property rights in communication technologies.
These schemes promote collaboration among academia, startups, research institutions and
industry, and aim to foster innovation and development of indigenous telecom technologies
in the country.
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