BSNL 4G to be made in India: Chinese, European vendors to get boot if government proposal accepted

In order to achieve self-reliance in telecom, the Niti Aayog is pitching that only locally-designed and manufactured products should be deployed by BSNL for its 4G roll-out, and the state-run firm should redraft its tender to support local models of equipment.

If the government accepts the proposal, not only Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE, but even European vendors such as Nokia and Ericsson as well as South Korean Samsung, may be unable to participate in the tender. Although Nokia and Ericsson manufacture telecom equipment in India, design and development of the products have taken place abroad and the intellectual property rights (IPR) are registered in the respective countries.