Investment in the Indian telecom sector will peak at $40 billion during the current fiscal as the country presses on to build a network of one billion mobile phones over the next two years, the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council has said.
This investment, up from $20 billion seen last year, would be for continuing the development of 3G, Broadband Wireless Access (BSA) and expansion of existing networks, said RK Pathak, secretary of the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council, at CommunicAsia 2010, a Singapore exhibition for global telecom industries.
However, investment would be lower in the next fiscal as the industry completes most of its developments, especially the establishment of hardware, Pathak said, adding software development was largely done indigenously.
Additionally, India is also importing an average of $10 billion worth of hardware to support the expansion of telecom sector, which has set a target of adding 18-20 million subscribers a month, said Pathak.
Pathak projected the domestic manufacturing sector to produce Rs 60,000 crore of equipment this fiscal year, up from Rs 50,000 crore last fiscal year, which was double from Rs 25,000 crore two years ago.
Pathak said the Indian telecom sector would export a $5 billion hardware in the current fiscal year, compared to $4 billion a year ago.
{{/usCountry}}Pathak said the Indian telecom sector would export a $5 billion hardware in the current fiscal year, compared to $4 billion a year ago.
{{/usCountry}}This is the year-old council's debut in the Singapore show.