Cisco announces manufacturing operations in a huge boost up for ‘Make in India’

In a bid to provide a boost up for “Digital India” and “Make in India” initiatives, Cisco announced the launch of its India manufacturing operations in Mumbai yesterday. The Internet company also unveiled new local strategic initiatives in partnership with Government of Maharashtra to help the digital transformation of the state.

The new projects include the citywide deployment of a smart city framework to roll out Smart City solutions in the city of Nagpur, digital learning for students and skills development for local entrepreneurs to create an e-commerce hub in Dharavi, expansion of the Cisco Networking Academy program, and digital education and healthcare initiatives in Fetri village.

Nagpur Smart City development will be a major project for the company as it will work as the demonstration of the digital power of Cisco as a networking company. The project will enable city-wide network connectivity along with WiFi hotspots and surveillance solutions. The services like smart transport, lighting, smart parking and environmental sensors will be clubbed together to Cisco’s “City Digital” platform.

“Digitization opens up unprecedented opportunities for every country, state, and city. High technology manufacturing is a convergence of engineering and science. India offers a huge talent pool of highly qualified scientists, engineers and designers along with ease of doing business, geographic location, and proximity to suppliers and customers. Today’s announcement reaffirms Cisco’s long-term commitment to India, a strategic centre of country digitization and innovation. We are honored to work with the people of India to accelerate their digital economy, and help further the government’s vision to create sustainable competitiveness and prosperity,” said Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco, at an event yesterday held to announce the launch of its India manufacturing operations.

Dharavi eCommerce Hub will help students gain quality education using digital learning tools for academics while connecting, collaborating and creating new content. The same infrastructure can be utilized by local start-ups and entrepreneurs as a platform for innovation. The company is also setting up to 25 Cisco Networking Academies to train 10,000 students in the state by 2020. This is an extension of the 186 total Networking Academies spread across the world.

As part of its commitment to help the state realize its vision of Digital Maharashtra, Cisco will also collaborate on the state-wide rollout of broadband infrastructure.

Commenting on the new initiatives, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, said “Digitization is not just connectivity. Digitization is the catalyst for industrial growth which has the potential to transform economies. The manufacturing sector is imperative to national development and raising incomes, and India will become a digital disruptor if it embeds, converges and integrates manufacturing and digitization. The government recognizes that Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) can play a seminal role in enabling India’s journey towards becoming a global manufacturing destination. I congratulate Cisco on the inauguration of its manufacturing facility, and I believe this is yet another milestone in strengthening India’s position as a manufacturing hub and accelerating the economic prosperity of the country.”