In a major policy drive, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has cleared the guidelines for the telecom manufacturing PLI scheme worth Rs 12,200 crore. The new blueprint is likely to be shared with the stakeholders later this week.
This comes barely a week after the DoT blocked the entry of Chinese technology giants in the 5G trials. Besides blocking the Chinese tech company, the department has also ensured that no Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer participates in the trial.
Among the technology equipment makers permitted to participate in the 5G trials include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and C-DOT. Reliance Jio Infocomm will also be conducting trials using its own indigenous technology.
According to a report, DoT will shortly start inviting applications from interested companies and the window for application will be open for one month, till June 15. Chinese gear vendors like Huawei and ZTE will not participate in these trials.
Under the PLI scheme, companies will receive an incentive of 4% to 6% and they will be required to invest a minimum of Rs 100 crore. The Digital Communications Commission, the highest decision-making body of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), approved the scheme last year in December.
The scheme will cover core transmission equipment, 4G/5G and next-generation radio access network and wireless equipment, access and customer premise equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) access devices, and enterprise equipment such as switches and routers, said people directly involved in framing the policy.
