Union minister for communications and development of north eastern region, along with Madhya Pradesh chief minister co-chaired the second investors’ meet in Mumbai for India’s first and only telecom manufacturing zone (TMZ) in Gwalior, securing fresh investment commitments worth Rs 20 billion for the initiative. The meeting witnessed participation from nearly 18 leading industry players from across the telecom ecosystem, with the latest commitments expected to generate close to 4,000 employment opportunities.
With the Mumbai commitments, the TMZ has now attracted cumulative investment commitments worth Rs 55 billion and is expected to create over 18,000 employment opportunities. This builds upon the Rs 35 billion investment commitments and 14,000 jobs announced during the inaugural Investors’ Roundtable in New Delhi held last week, marking another significant milestone towards the TMZ’s vision of attracting over Rs 100 billion in investments.
Addressing industry leaders, communications minister said that under the leadership of prime minister of India, the country has witnessed a transformational revolution in telecommunications and digitalisation over the last twelve years. He noted that India has evolved from a nation driven by telecom services into one preparing to become a global leader in telecom products and manufacturing.
Emphasising the vision of “Make in India, Make for the World” and “Local for Global”, the minister said India must now transition from being a services-led nation to a product-led nation. He outlined a three-pronged strategy to achieve this transformation: increasing domestic value addition, creating intellectual property in India, and enabling Indian-designed and Indian-manufactured telecom products to reach every corner of the world.
Drawing parallels with India’s remarkable success in mobile manufacturing and digital public infrastructure, the minister said that the same model can now be replicated in telecom manufacturing. He noted that India has transformed from importing the vast majority of its mobile phones to becoming one of the world’s largest mobile manufacturing hubs, while digital platforms such as UPI have demonstrated India’s ability to create globally scalable technology solutions. He expressed confidence that the TMZ in Gwalior would emerge as another global success story that countries around the world could look to replicate.
The minister described the TMZ as a first-of-its-kind initiative inspired by the success of special economic zones but designed exclusively for the telecommunications sector. The integrated ecosystem will bring together the complete telecom value chain, including design, research and development, testing, manufacturing, components, semiconductors, optical fibre, telecom equipment and allied industries, supported by common plug-and-play testing infrastructure and world-class facilities.
Highlighting Gwalior’s strategic advantages, the minister also said its central location, excellent connectivity, established industrial ecosystem, availability of plug-and-play infrastructure, strong talent pipeline from premier educational institutions, and competitive operating costs make it an ideal destination for telecom manufacturing investments. Highlighting Gwalior’s rapidly evolving infrastructure, he noted that enhanced connectivity is significantly strengthening the city’s investment proposition.
He invited companies across every telecom vertical to establish operations in the zone, creating a complete end-to-end manufacturing ecosystem.
Reaffirming the government’s long-term commitment, he announced that a special purpose vehicle (SPV) comprising representatives from both the DoT and the government of Madhya Pradesh will jointly steer the implementation of the project. Calling it an unprecedented centre-state partnership, he assured investors that both governments would work together continuously to resolve issues, facilitate investments and ensure the long-term success of the TMZ.