-
The global networking leader has decided to make Pune its first Indian manufacturing base
The world's largest maker of networking equipment —Cisco — has partnered with the state government of Maharashtra to launch a series of initiatives in smart city and Digital India spheres. The formal announcements were made in Mumbai, jointly by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins.
The biggest announcement was that Cisco had launched its India manufacturing operations, from Pune. It will manufacture and roll out a diverse product portfolio in India to support the government’s Make in India initiative. Cisco will use its India manufacturing operations to produce and ship orders for customers in India, as well as for testing, development, logistics, and in-house repair capabilities.
"The manufacturing of our diverse product portfolio will bring advance manufacturing capabilities to our operations in India", said Jun Kim, Vice President, Cisco Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations.
Said Cisco Chairman John Chamber when first announcing the company's India plans: "We are committed to Pune. We see India as a fast innovation leader. First, you manufacture in India, for India — and then, in India for the world."
Earlier this year, Cisco made its unit in Hinjewadi, Pune, its second India-based Global Development Centre (GDC) with a dedicated 17200 square metre space. India is the only country in the world where Cisco has two global delivery centres.
It chose Pune due to its mutiple attributes - the city's strategic location, its supportive government and digital transformation vision, deep technical talent and excellent communications infrastructure. Through the Pune GDC, Cisco hopes it will deepen the local expertise in advanced digital technologies and contribute to Pune's economic growth. The Pune centre plans to double its headcount in the next two years.
Digital Maharashtra
Even as it places Pune, at the epicentre its Make in India thrust, Cisco is all set to widen its digital outreach to the rest of Maharashtra, with a series initiatives.
Nagpur has been chose for India’s First city-wide deployment of a Smart City framework enabled by Cisco's "City Digital Platform". This will enable city-wide network connectivity, Smart & Secure Wi-Fi hotspots, and Smart safety & surveillance solutions. Citizen services enabled by this architecture will include smart transport, solid waste management, smart lighting, environmental sensors, and smart parking.
Dharavi once known as Asia's largest shanty town, is to become an e-commerce hub. Cisco is helping the local Sri Ganesh Vidya Mandir High School by providing the students with a virtual classroom, digital learning and Internet connectivity. After school hours, local entrepreneurs and start-ups will be able to use the school as a platform for local innovation to help make Dharavi an e-biz hub.
As part of Cisco’s commitment to accelerating Digital Maharashtra and supporting the Maharashtra State Education Digitization agenda, the company announced plans to establish up to 25 Cisco Networking Academies to train approximately 10,000 students in Maharashtra by 2020. Also announced, was an new initiative to digitize Fetri village in the Kato Tehsil of Nagpur district through key technologies including Wi-Fi, smart healthcare, — and smart education in an upper primary government school in the village. And in a state-wide initiative, Cisco will collaborate on the rollout of broadband infrastructure to accelerate the Digital Maharashtra vision.
Said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis:"My vision for digital Maharashtra is to digitally empower every citizen, increase the state’s global competitiveness by creating a highly skilled workforce ready for the jobs of the future, build an environment that stimulates exceptional companies, and enable outstanding public services for citizens. We are happy to partner with Cisco in the Digital Maharashtra initiative and we believe Cisco’s global experience and expertise in digitization will benefit Maharashtra immensely and accelerate the digitization of the state.”
Added Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India & SAARC: “These announcements underscores India's strategic importance to Cisco's global operations. We have made significant investments in India since we established operations in the country in 1995."
