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Telecom equipment manufacturer HFCL Limited on Tuesday said it has received an approval to avail incentive up to Rs 652.79 crore as part of government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, as the country kicks off the 5G era.

HFCL has received approval from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Project Management Agency (PMA) and Competent Authority designated by the Centre on its application for participation in the PLI scheme.

The company said it has committed an investment of Rs 425 crore in the PLI scheme for manufacturing of telecom products, including 5G Radio equipment, Routers, Switches, WiFi Products and Backhaul Radios, etc.

"This approval worth Rs 652.79 crore will help us in improving our margins and enable us to emerge as a front-runner in this competitive global market. Given our current focus on R&D, we are committed to invest Rs 425 crore for development and manufacturing of futuristic telecom products," said Mahendra Nahata, MD, HFCL.

There has been a commitment of Rs 4,115 crore of investments from all the participating companies to date under the PLI scheme for telecom and networking products.

The DoT notified the PLI scheme for telecom and networking products on February 24, 2021, with a financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore, over five years.

The incentive amount will be distributed over a period of five years, commencing from FY 2022-23 to 2026-27, allowing HFCL to be more competitive globally by adding margin-accretive products under its portfolio.

The Union Budget 2022-23 further laid thrust on the PLI scheme for the creation of a strong 5G ecosystem in India by providing an additional incentive of 1 per cent over and above the existing incentives for products that are designed and manufactured in India.

"We aim to make India a global manufacturing hub for telecom and networking products and believe that this initiative will enable our nation in expanding the manufacturing and development of the indigenous latest technology products," said Nahata.

HFCL recently announced a technical collaboration with Qualcomm for the design of 5G Outdoor Small Cell and Fixed Wireline Access product development.