Samsung has conveyed to the Indian government that it is interested in participating in the second phase of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the telecom sector. The South-Korean tech giant wants to set up telecom equipment manufacturing facilities in India. It is worth noting that Samsung had earlier avoided participating in the telecom PLI scheme because it didn’t want to invest a large amount of money just to serve one client - Reliance Jio. According to an ET Telecom report, Samsung has been in talks with Bharti Airtel as well as Reliance Jio for supplying 4G and 5G gear. Airtel doesn’t want to rely on only Ericsson and Nokia for everything it is doing. Thus, the telecom operator might form a gear supply contract with Samsung. Note that Samsung has already been working with Jio in its 5G trials. Jio had taken Samsung’s help earlier for rolling out 4G across the nation. Thus, there might be a possibility that Jio might award Samsung a contract for supplying 5G gear too.
Samsung Had Earlier Said It Doesn’t Want to Come to India
As mentioned above, Samsung had earlier said that it doesn’t want to come to India and invest a huge sum of money just for one client when it can easily fulfil the global demand for telecom gear via its manufacturing facilities in South Korea, China, and Vietnam. But now, with Airtel becoming a possible client, Samsung might be looking to pump money into manufacturing within India. The South-Korean tech giant might also work on exporting gear from India to customers globally. Samsung can benefit greatly from the PLI scheme for the telecom sector while India will see more employment opportunities and a boost in its economy. Samsung already has made huge commitments in India, such as the humongous factory in Uttar Pradesh which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. Further, the company promised a Rs 4,915 crore investment for the factory.
