The Centre has mandated giving preference in all public procurement to locally produced cybersecurity products where intellectual property rights are owned by companies or start-ups incorporated in India.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said in an order that it “hereby notifies that Cyber Security being a strategic sector, preference shall be provided by all procuring entities to domestically manufactured/produced Cyber Security Products.”
The notification is based on Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017 which aims to enhance income and employment in the country.
Preference will be granted to a firm incorporated and registered in India or to start-up firms that meet the prescribed definition, provided revenue from the product and intellectual property licensing accrues to the firm in India. Though IP registration is not mandatory in the country, a firm claiming benefit should have the right to use and commercialise the product without third party-consents, distribute and modify it, the order said.
‘Promoting propserity’
“It is imperative for a country to use and promote indigenous cybersecurity products to protect our information space as well as bring economic prosperity,” Innefu Labs co-founder Tarun Wig said.
“The U.S., China and Russia have already started this process and it’s high time India follows suit.”
