Stories
Nokia Backs Policy Support to Deepen India Telecom Manufacturing
- •Nokia is seeking to expand India's role in its global telecom supply chain, supporting the government's proposed Telecom PLI 2.0 to transform the country into a larger manufacturing and export hub.
- •Samar Mittal, Nokia's India business leader, stated that India's manufacturing capabilities, engineering talent, and R&D ecosystem are increasingly vital to global operations.
- •The government is developing a successor scheme to the current telecom PLI, featuring a sizable outlay and a stronger focus on components, backward integration, and domestic value addition.
- •Nokia's Chennai facility currently exports around 40 percent of its production, while the company's Indian footprint also drives software innovation, R&D, and global tech solutions.
- •As 5G deployment matures, Nokia is focusing on monetisation, enterprise use cases, network slicing, and exploring AI-RAN technologies with Indian telecom operators.
Key Questions Answered
The existing telecom PLI scheme with an outlay of Rs 12,195 crore is scheduled to expire in March 2027. Its successor scheme is targeted for the first quarter of FY28 with a sizable outlay and a sharper focus on components, backward integration, and higher domestic value addition.
Nokia's Chennai facility serves both domestic and international markets, with around 40% of its production being exported. In addition to manufacturing, the facility and India footprint support R&D, software development, operational excellence, and repair capabilities.
Nokia expects 5G monetisation through applications like network slicing, private networks, and software-driven services to drive the next phase. Additionally, AI-RAN is emerging as another driver, allowing operators to introduce AI capabilities incrementally and extract greater value from existing spectrum.
