New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) As US network gear maker Cisco on Wednesday announced plans for manufacturing products like routers and switches in India, its chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins said the country has made remarkable progress on digital infrastructure, and termed India as the number one growth opportunity over next decade.
The manufacturing operations — which come amidst India’s aggressive push to position itself as a global manufacturing hub supported by enabling schemes — will take off through Cisco’s contract manufacturers and it is eyeing USD 1 billion worth of combined exports and domestic market production from here.
On the global macroeconomic uncertainties, US banking crisis, and geopolitical shocks, the Cisco top boss exuded confidence that the “strategic value of tech and digitisation is not going to slow down” and will in fact “continue moving forward” as it is the key to every country’s success.
In an interview with PTI, Robbins talked about his discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as the company’s manufacturing plans, and praised the breakneck pace of digitisation and 5G rollouts here, skill capabilities, the start up ecosystem, and its strengthening physical infrastructure.
The Cisco CEO also met Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani during his India visit, and had a “good conversation”.
“The energy here is incredible. During the pandemic, while it was a stressful time, India made tons of progress on digitisation. The ambition of India is very clear and the momentum I felt here in the last few days is incredible. I met the PM, and several ministers and talked about many topics, among them about our commitment to manufacturing here in India, which we are announcing…,” said Robbins, who is in Delhi as part of his multi-city tour to India.
The Cisco top honcho – who was last here in 2019 – said not just digital but physical infrastructure is also stronger, and The government’s initiatives are clearly driving the change.
“I have to say, coming here 27 years ago was one of the smartest things we have ever done, and I have never been more excited about the momentum here. The infrastructure, physical infrastructure feels different, you see it getting better. The digital infrastructure has clearly has significant investments.
“I think when you talk to Government leaders, the consistency around the single mission what they believe they can achieve for India is clear and we are excited to be a small part of it,” he said.
Robbins described India as the “number one growth opportunity over the next decade”.
“The population here, the commitment to technology, technology-savviness of leadership, the tech capabilities of a large portion of the population, the commitment to capacity building and skilling….
“I met PM Modi yesterday, and the range of topics and depth of knowledge he has on tech and the vision he has set for this country, is astounding,” Robbins said.
With manufacturing taking off, the company hopes to have its 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. We are going to be using this and are viewing this as a global export hub as well,” Robbins said underscoring the company’s razor-sharp focus on building a full manufacturing node something it is “really excited about it”.
The Made in India Cisco products will be exported to the region, and also to Europe. The manufacturing will take place in Chennai, and the company will expand the product line over a period of time.
“Soon, over the next few years, we will have a broad array of products that will be built here and I think it is just beginning for India. It is clear to me that this is going to be a major manufacturing hub. I told PM that we will probably be one of his best recruiting engines for the supply chain ecosystem. Because it is good for us when our suppliers actually create a presence here as well,” he said.
India is a key investment area for the company, and the company will continue to invest here, Robbins asserted.
Robbins further said his discussion with the PM ranged from manufacturing to skills, and Cisco’s programs, and from AI to 5G, and sustainability.
5G is a big bet for Cisco and Robbins observed that India had demonstrated the fastest 5G rollout anywhere in the world.
“I think it is important because as you are thinking about creating opportunity for everyone in this country, high-speed connectivity is the first step. The great news is 5G gives us the opportunity to get high-speed connectivity virtually everywhere,” he said.
The Cisco CEO said that the speed at which India created the digital public infrastructure was incredibly impressive.
“I think a lot of countries around the world have done it, but probably not at the scale and speed that it was done here. I do think it is a great capability to export and help other countries and that is something that would be helpful for Indian economy as well,” he said.
On the new regulations taking shape including the proposed digital personal data protection Bill, the proposed Digital India Act and the telecom Bill, Robbins said the company supports legislation that helps maintain the privacy of individual information.
“What we have seen the Government here do is really shift the regulatory environment to encourage investment and that has been a big driver for FDI. I see this shift not only around privacy which is really important, but also the shift towards encouraging investment here which is good,” he said.
On global tech layoffs and whether there is more pain in the offing, the Cisco CEO said it is difficult to predict what is going to happen across the industry given the macro headwinds, but was quick to point out that India is a key market for the company.
To a question on whether the company’s plans to rightsize certain businesses will have any ramifications on India operations, Robbins said, “None, it will be the same that it would be anywhere. Ours was not a cost-related issue, ours was related to need to rightsize our business and invest in another business, so we just needed different skillset quickly, and it turns out that the numbers that we ended up impacting were much lower than what we initially thought”.
“It is hard to say what is going to happen across the industry because there is so much uncertainty at the macro level right now about what is going to happen in the economy, but there is nothing unique to India other than it being a key investment area for us as we go forward,” he said. PTI MBI MR MR
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