New Delhi: Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. on March 23 unveiled one of the most popular products in its switching portfolio as the company’s first “Make in India” product.
Minister for electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the launch that he had requested Cisco’s executive chairman John Chambers to manufacture products in India.
“This product will help Internet in office space and other places and it is a clear mark of digitizing India by Make in India,” Prasad said. The product has a label that says “Digitizing India by making in India”.
This product is fundamental to network connectivity and a key enabler to the vision of Digital India, and can be used by small and medium businesses across multiple industries. The product is priced at under $1,500, a company spokesperson said.
“Five months ago, we launched our India manufacturing operations. Today we are excited to unveil our first Made in India product and deliver on our commitment to support the government’s Make In India initiative,” said John Kern, Senior vice-president of supply chain operations and India executive sponsor at Cisco.
“We see today as a milestone in India’s journey to becoming a global hub for electronics manufacturing. India is a source of tremendous innovation for Cisco—across engineering, business functions and now, manufacturing,” Kern added.
An expert said, given the fact we are lagging behind in overall infrastructure, the importance of manufacturing to cater to infrastructure development cannot be undermined.
“Even as the government is actively investing on rural and infrastructural development, the country is still to see big capital investments for creating new capacity,” said S.V. Sukumar, partner and head of industrial manufacturing of KPMG in India.
“India may become a regional hub but not a manufacturing hub for the world. Global companies are looking at manufacturing in India to serve India and neighbouring nations.”
Source: livemint
