Japan's NEC to build telecom equipment in India

Japan-based technology company NEC Corporation today said it will start manufacturing telecom equipment in India by the end of financial year 2012.

"NEC is establishing a new PASOLINK production unit at the Special Economic Zone of Chennai, as a part of NEC India and is planning to commence operations at the new unit within the fiscal year ending March 2012," NEC said in a statement today.

The company added that it also plans to expand local procurement of materials within India in the future.

This production of its compact microwave communications system PASOLINK will be in addition to existing production at NEC Network Products in Japan.

PASOLINK products are used for building back-end infrastructure for telecommunication connectivity.

NEC said that the decision is part of its measure to strengthen global competitiveness against global vendors in the face of a rapidly strengthening yen and taking proactive measures to gain presence in expanding markets such as India.

The manufacturing facility will be managed by NEC Network Products which was established by NEC Corporation in April 2011 as production company for communications equipment, by consolidating three former subsidiaries in Japan.

Electronics industry association (ECLINA) sees this announcement as a signal of more such manufacturing decisions by other leading global brands.

"Important is the company's announcement to 'expand local procurement of materials within India'. This will not only provide a fillip to improving the competitiveness in manufacturing but also provide opportunities for Indian companies to be part of NEC's supply chain," K Srinivasan, secretary, ELCINA said.

NEC started its Indian subsidiary in August 2006 which deals in solutions for carrier network, unified communications, retail technology solutions, security and surveillance systems, IT and multimedia products solutions.

The company has research and development centre in Bangalore.