Though Chinese telecom equipment major Huawei is yet to receive a green signal from the Indian government for participating in the country’s upcoming 5G trials, the company is mulling expanding its manufacturing here.
In an interview with The Hindu , Huawei India CEO Jay Chen said the company was “seriously” studying the Indian government’s policy of encouraging local manufacturing.
“Currently, what I am seriously doing is very carefully studying the new policy from the government to encourage local manufacturing and [conducting] feasibility study for local manufacturing,” Mr. Chen said.
Asked if the company will still look at expanding manufacturing in case they don’t get the required approvals for 5G trials, Mr. Chen said that the decision will depend on business size and requirements.
“For local manufacturing, the plan is dependent on my business. Right now, we manufacture in India and if required, export from China... I will consider overall [situation] and make a business call.” He, however, added that the company will enter 5G-related manufacturing only if it does 5G business in India.
Local needs
“My local manufacturing first needs to match my local requirement. Before 5G business, we won’t have 5G manufacturing in India.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Chen expressed confidence that Huawei will be allowed to participate in 5G roll-out in the country, “We have our confidence. From the beginning, I have said this..Because, we have very close engagement with the Indian government, industry and our customers. I have trust in them. They have also shown their trust in Huawei,” he said.
Asked if the company’s headquarters had similar confidence, he said, “I think for this, there is no difference between India and the headquarters.”
To a query on the investments that Huawei could bring in if it gets permission for 5G, Mr. Chen said, “For my operations in India, I don’t have any hesitation in [making] the necessary investments... be it in R&D to develop customer-specific solutions or in operations, automation and people... this also includes local manufacturing.”
