NEW DELHI: India’s imports of telecom instruments from China climbed to $6,371 million (about Rs 59,500 crore) in 2023-24, up from $5,553 million in 2019-20, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, in a written reply to Lok Sabha, said that total imports in the telecom instruments category rose from $13,333 million in 2019-20 to $17,010 million in 202324.

“The imports under the principal commodity ‘telecom instruments’ have increased from $13,333 million in 2019-20 to 17,010 million in 2023-24. Further, the import from China during the period has increased from $5,553 million to 6,371 million,” the minister said. To boost domestic manufacturing of telecom instruments, he said the government has introduced the Public Pro curement order to give preference in government procurement for goods and services which meet the minimum domestic value addition criteria.

He also noted the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Telecom and Networking Products, and for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM). “The Government has taken several steps to reduce the burden of testing, compliance and certification, particularly for MSMEs, including waiver of the evaluation fee under the Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE); enhancement of validity of MTCTE certificates from 5 years to 10 years; and reimbursement of part of testing and certification charges for certain types of entities,” he said.