Govt to revisit preferential market access policy

The government has put on hold the requirement for private telecom firms to source domestically manufactured electronic equipments, as it reviews and revisits the controversial 'preferential market access' policy.

Amidst pressure from international trade associations and domestic telecom industry, the government has decided to 'revisit and review' the entire policy on Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Goods (PMA Policy).

This follows a meeting last Friday which was attended by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chaterjee, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui and Information Technology Secretary J Satyanarayana.

'No notifications on PMA in the private sector on security related products will be issued till the PMA Policy is reviewed and any notifications in the draft stage will be withheld,' the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

'The overall policy on PMA will be recalibrated and submitted to the Cabinet,' it said.

Though the statement did not specify steps to be taken by state-owned firms, industry felt the PMA mandating a phased increase in procurement from domestic industry will be implemented by them.

The Cabinet had in February last year approved the PMA policy seeking preference to domestically manufactured electronic products, in procurement of those electronic products which have security implications for the country and in government procurement for its own use.

'The National Security Council Secretariat will provide a definition of 'security' for usage in the context of security related issues concerning products, projects or sectors,' the statement said.