 "Cisco to invest in manufacturing operations in India")
The San Jose (California, USA) headquartered technology company Cisco Systems has announced its plan to start manufacturing operations in the country to support the government’s Make in India initiative. The new facility, expected to come up in Pune (Maharashtra), will produce Cisco’s diverse product portfolio to bring advance manufacturing capabilities in India.
Cisco also announced new local strategic initiatives, in association with the Government of Maharashtra (GoM), to help the digital transformation of the state, which includes the citywide deployment of a smart city framework to roll out Smart City solutions in the city of Nagpur, digital learning for students and skills development for local entrepreneurs in Dharavi to create an eCommerce hub, expansion of the Cisco Networking Academy program, and digital education and healthcare initiatives in Fetri village.
“Digitisation opens up unprecedented opportunities for every country, state and city. High technology manufacturing is convergence of engineering and science. India offers a huge talent pool of highly qualified scientists, engineers and designers along with ease of doing business, geographic location, and proximity to suppliers and customers. Today’s announcement reaffirms Cisco’s long-term commitment to India, a strategic centre of country digitisation and innovation. We are honoured to work with the people of India to accelerate their digital economy, and help further the government’s vision to create sustainable competitiveness and prosperity,” said Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco, at an event yesterday held to announce the launch of its India manufacturing operations.
Cisco will manufacture and roll out a diverse product portfolio in India to support the government’s Make in India initiative. The company will use its India manufacturing operations to produce and ship orders for customers in India, as well as for testing, development, logistics, and in-house repair capabilities.
“We have made significant investments in India since we established operations in the country in 1995, and today’s announcement is another milestone in deepening our commitment to India. Today we lay the foundation for the next chapter in Cisco's development in India, and help strengthen India’s global leadership position in digital transformation,” stated Dinesh Malkani, president, Cisco India & SAARC.
The decision of Cisco to set up a production facility in the country will help the government to showcase India as a potential global manufacturing destination for the electronics sector. The government has identified electronics manufacturing as a strategic sector and has been taking steps to encourage investments to build supply chains and an ecosystem to support manufacturing activity for the sector.
“The manufacturing sector is imperative to national development and raising incomes, and India will become a digital disruptor if it embeds, converges and integrates manufacturing and digitisation. The government recognises that electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) can play a seminal role in enabling India’s journey towards becoming a global manufacturing destination. I congratulate Cisco on the inauguration of its manufacturing facility, and I believe this is yet another milestone in strengthening India’s position as a manufacturing hub and accelerating the economic prosperity of the country,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, who was present at the event.