A NITI Aayog report highlights the potential for India’s telecom and network equipment industry to significantly boost economic growth and exports by 2035, contingent on faster policy support and reducing dependence on Chinese imports.
India’s telecom and network equipment sector could become a far larger engine of growth by 2035, but a new NITI Aayog report says that outcome will depend on faster policy support, deeper local manufacturing and a reduced reliance on imported components. The report argues that the industry, which underpins modern connectivity, is well placed to support the National Telecom Policy 2025 goals of universal access, higher output and stronger exports, yet it remains exposed to supply-chain risks and persistent trade imbalances.
The central weakness is India’s dependence on foreign inputs, particularly from China. The Hindu BusinessLine report says domestic exports of telecom and network equipment were only 0.2% to 0.3% of total exports in 2020-24, or about $600 million to $1 billion a year, while imports ran at $4 billion to $5 billion annually. It also said more than 80% of critical components, including 4G and 5G antennas and signal processors, came from China.
That dependence is not a new problem. Business Standard reported in April that India’s imports of telecom instruments from China rose to $6.37 billion in 2023-24 from $5.55 billion in 2019-20, while total imports in the category increased to $17.01 billion from $13.33 billion over the same period. The broader concern, according to the report, is that much of India’s manufacturing still amounts to low-value assembly, with domestic value addition often below 20%, leaving local firms at a cost disadvantage versus global peers.
NITI Aayog says the answer is a mix of sustained support and policy certainty, including the Production Linked Incentive scheme and other measures already in place. The report projects that with continued intervention, telecom and network equipment could lift its GDP share to 1% to 1.5%, generate 500,000 skilled jobs and turn India into a $50 billion export hub by 2035. It added that the sector could help advance broader national export ambitions while reducing vulnerability to external shocks in critical technology supply chains.
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