Airtel Deal Encourages Samsung to Make 4G and 5G Gear in Tamil Nadu

In the 4G era, Samsung’s only telecom customer in India was Reliance Jio. Thus, when the Indian government announced a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the telecom sector, Samsung initially didn’t partake. But after bagging the deal with Airtel, Samsung’s interest in the Indian market grew. This gave the company enough incentive to invest more in the market. Now, Samsung is reportedly looking to make 4G and 5G gear for the telecom operators in Tamil Nadu, India. This will, of course, be under the telecom PLI

scheme. Nokia and Jabil (Ericsson) are already making gear locally in India, and Samsung will join their ranks pretty soon.

Samsung Proposes an Investment of Rs 400 in Tamil Nadu

According to an ET report, an official aware of the matter said that Samsung had proposed an investment of Rs 400 crore to make 5G and 4G gear in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Airtel is working with three different vendors to source equipment for 5G – Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung. Each of the vendors would help out the telco in different circles.

Airtel and Jio are both going to aggressively roll out 5G in the coming months and years to get an edge over each other. This would mean that vendors would have ample opportunities to make revenues. Samsung has already bagged the trusted source badge from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). The PLI scheme for the telecom sector laid out by the government has incentives worth Rs 12,195 spread over five years. The companies can choose either FY22 or FY23 as the first year of incentive for them.

Samsung setting up a shop for manufacturing telecom equipment in India would bring more jobs to the country. Further, it would also give Samsung a chance to manufacture in India and export to other South East Asian countries. The government wants India to be a manufacturing hub and stop relying upon countries such as China for crucial equipment or gear.