US-based network gear maker Cisco System on Wednesday announce a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu. According to one of the top officials of the company, they will kickstart the manufacturing across its portfolio which includes switches and routers. While making the announcement, the global leader said that building a manufacturing unit in India will be a major step towards the expansion.CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins asserted that the company is targeting over USD 1 billion in combined exports and domestic production. Robbins, who is now on the Delhi leg of a multi-city visit to India this week, described the atmosphere in India as “incredible”. “India has made great strides towards digitisation. Indias desire is quite apparent, and the momentum I experienced here is remarkable,” he added.According to the official statement, the company will have the first products off the line in the next 12 months, and will then expand to a wider array of Made in India products over time. However, they did not comment on the quantum of investments it will infuse.“We think, we should have first products off the line in about 12 months. We are starting with two of our highest volume products, one of our switches and one of our routers that are widely used in India,” CEO said.Robbins during his visit to India, also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers. The top executive of Cisco stated, “I met the PM and numerous ministries and we discussed several things, among them our commitment to manufacturing here in India, which we are announcing.”The business would also use manufacturing in India for exports. “Were going to use this and see it as a hub for international exports as well. So, just like we have elsewhere, we are developing a full manufacturing node, and we are quite thrilled about it,” said the Cisco CEO.The new operations in India were announced by the CEO of Cisco after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a series of strategic engagements with other senior ministers. Reportedly, the networking major is working with the telecom carriers, like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to build automated and converged 5G networks with a focus on enterprise business for efficient service delivery.
