The Hindu : Business : ITI's second U.P. unit on stream

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 10, 2005

Business

Business

ITI's second U.P. unit on stream

Sandeep Dikshit

Sonia hails the turnaround in fortunes of the Rae Bareily plant

— Photo: Kamal Narang

BREATHS NEW LIFE: The Chairperson of National Advisory Council, Sonia Gandhi, inaugurating ITI's GSM facility at Rae Bareily, (U.P). The President, Mobile Communication Group, Alcatel, Etienne Fouques, looks on.

RAI BAREILY: United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday inaugurated the GSM technology based cellular manufacturing facility at the public sector ITI's plant here, thus reviving a unit that had been virtually defunct for over a decade.

This was the second ITI plant to be revived in a span of four months aided by a Rs. 1,032 crore Central package.

"The revival has been of great satisfaction to me,'' said Mrs. Gandhi at a public function to mark the turnaround in fortunes of the plant. The UPA Chairperson was also present at the revival of the first ITI plant which is also in Uttar Pradesh.

The Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran said although the plant was to manufacture cellular equipment that can support three million lines, the Government had now decided to double the capacity to 60 lakh lines by early next year.

The move to expand the capacity has been helped by the technical collaborator Alcatel's announcement to export 20 lakh lines to African countries next year and more orders to be placed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited.

Mr. Maran said that having realised that reliance on one technology had led to several troughs in ITI's 57-year existence, the Government had decided to gradually induct more sophisticated technology to adapt to future market requirements. Future plans for the Rai Bareily unit include 3-G cellular manufacturing facility and manufacturing of accessories such as towers, shelters and power plants.

"All these initiatives need to be backed by a sound order book. We have tried to take care of this aspect. ITI already has 45 lakh lines order on hand from BSNL and MTNL. BSNL is now giving orders for another 20 lakh lines,'' Mr. Maran said.

Later speaking to newspersons, Mr. Maran said the recent Government policies had resulted in component manufacturers and equipment makers setting up units in the country.

Other global players such as Siemens, Motorola, Foxcon and Flextronics were also seriously planning to set up manufacturing facilities, he revealed.

Alcatel Vice-President Etienne Fouques admitted that the surge in phone usage in India had caught the world by surprise. That led Alcatel to take renewed interest in its long-time Indian partner.

PTI reports:

Uniform call rates from January

`IndiaOne,' which envisages a single call rate across the country and doing away with difference between local call charges and STD tariffs, will be implemented from January 2006, Mr. Maran said.

``IndiaOne regime will come into effect from January next year,'' Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran told reporters, while inaugurating equipment manufacturing facility of telecom PSU ITI in Rae Bareli.

Calling within the country will be like calling within a State, Mr. Maran said. This was a significant move aimed at bringing parity among all States in India, when it came to telecom. The Ministry had already removed such a difference, which existed only in the four States, he said.

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