Ericsson commits to 'Made in India' for all telecom gear

New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson plans to manufacture every telecom gear it sells in India, including 6G equipment, indigenously, a senior company official said on Thursday.

Ericsson, Head of Market Area Southeast Asia, Oceania and India, Andres Vicente told PTI that the company expects to start 6G trials by 2028 but commercial deployment of the technology will take some more time.

"Our intention is to manufacture in India everything we sell in India," Vicente said at India Mobile Congress 2025.

The company, at present, makes 4G and 5G equipment in India and exports them to Asian countries as well.

The company recently expanded its ASIC (application specific integrated chips) R&D in Bengaluru and launched production of passive antennas in India in collaboration with VVDN Technologies.

Vicente said that the company is planning to expand the ASIC R&D facility team to 150 positions.

He said that Ericsson is constantly increasing value addition in the equipment that are produced locally.

"I think that India has a lifetime opportunity in order to become an alternative ecosystem where all the components are produced here. We all need to be conscious that in order to develop these very sophisticated products, we are still importing many of the components to India. We need to change that by investing in a holistic way, not only in anchor brands like Ericsson, but also in the ecosystem of components, filters, batteries, closures and many other things," Vicente said.

Besides telecom gears, Ericsson is also diversifying technology solutions in other sectors, including Railways.

The company is also deploying ATM-like food grain kiosks, 5G-enabled Grain ATM Annapurti, in India in partnership with the World Food Programme.

Vicente said that the made-in-India, 5G-enabled Grain ATM Annapurti dispenses multiple food grains with precision -- 25 to 30 kg in just 30 seconds - using Aadhaar-based biometrics.

Deployed in cities like Shillong, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Bhopal, the initiative supports the One Nation One Ration Card scheme, providing round the clock access to essential food grains.

"Over the next year, 23 new, highly automated Annapurti machines will be deployed across India, underscoring how 5G can foster digital inclusion and food security," he said. PTI PRS MR