Make In India: Samsung Plans Local Manufacturing Of 4G, 5G Equipment; Applies For Centre's Telecom Parts PLI Scheme

After giving a miss to telecom parts PLI scheme last year, South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has applied for Modi government's over Rs 12,000 crore incentive programme to boost local manufacturing of 4G and 5G telecommunications equipment, reports Economic Times.

The scheme, which has a financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore and was notified in February last year by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has been amended in April this year to facilitate design-led manufacturing for which Rs 4,000 crore was set aside.

Fresh applications under the amended scheme were sought by DoT till 25 August 2022.

ET quoted DoT officials as saying that Samsung, which at present is not manufacturing telecom gears in the country, will start making the equipment locally once it is selected under the PLI scheme.

With its selection for the PLI scheme, Samsung would join other global manufacturers including Cisco, Jabil, Flex and Foxconn, and European telecom gear majors Nokia and Ericsson in applying for the incentive programme.

The South Korean electronics manufacturer reportedly gave a miss to the scheme in 2021 due to the lack of opportunities in the gear supply space as Reliance Jio was it only customer for 4G tech and 5G rollouts were not expected last year.

However, with the 5G spectrum allocation completed earlier this month and telcos planning to rollout the services, things have changed for the company.

Samsung has got a 5G equipment supply contract from Bharti Airtel and is expected to get similar deals from Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea as well, the ET reported.

The company also got approval as a "trusted" source from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) earlier this year. The NSCS approval is mandatory for being selected by telcos for installing equipment on their network.