HYDERABAD: Optical fiber manufacturer, Himachal Futuristic Communication Limited (HFCL) has laid a foundation to set-up its first facility to fiber production plant in Rangareddy district.
With an initial investment of Rs 260 crore, the company acquired 20 acres land in FAB city, an SEZ in the district to manufacture 6.4 million fibre kilometres per annum and will start its production from April 2019.The void space of optical fibre with only handful players operating in the country is yet to fully accelerate and the production of fiber is set to aid India’s aim to enable high-speed internet connectivity in every household.
“The project will create about 1,000 - 1,200 jobs over the course of time with an additional investment of another Rs 700 crore through the other phases of the project,” said KT Rama Rao, Minister for Industries, while adding that there would be more blue collar jobs created. “Through Telangana Academy for Skills and Development (TASK), we would like the company to tell us the required skills to be imparted to the youth,” Rao said while requesting to hire local talent for the jobs to be created.
Expressing his goal for the future, Rao said: “when a citizen is directly able to communicate with the government, that is when there would be minimum government and maximum governance.”Heaping praises on Telangana governments’ initiative in holding pilot projects to have high-speed internet through Technology Demonstration Network (TDN), Mahendra Nahata, MD, HFCL, said that the state is soaring ahead in terms of usage of the optical fibre.
“While the central government is not talking about putting optical fibre in urban years, Telangana is already doing the job in different villages,” Nahata said. The company intends to set-up another facility for production of defence-related equipment including night vision cameras and miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).