NEW DELHI: After taking a slew of steps against Chinese mobile apps, India will soon come out with a list of ‘trusted sources’, only from whom can telecom equipment be purchased by service providers.
Senior officials said the move is aimed at building indigenous capacity in the manufacturing of the telecom equipment, and cut down on the dependency on imports.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday decided that a panel headed by the deputy national security advisor will prepare the ‘trusted sources’ list, which seeks to secure India’s communication network.
The panel will also prepare a ‘negative list’ of companies, whose products will not be allowed in the country.
The blacklist is likely to contain Chinese firms. The National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector, cleared by the CCA, directs all service providers to mandatorily source equipment from “trusted sources”. However, it will not affect equipment that have already been deployed.
“The CCS has approved the directive in line with the needs of the national security, and accordingly the National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector has been given the nod,” said Union law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The panel will comprise members from relevant departments, ministries, besides two from the industry and also independent experts.
The directive has provisions to qualify telecom gears made by domestic players in the trusted category, while those that meet the criteria of the DoT’s “preferential market access scheme” will be certified as India trusted sources.
Next round of spectrum sale
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal for the auction of 2,251.25 megahertz of spectrum worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore. The sale will be held in March 2021.