Cisco planning pilot facility in Chennai

NEW DELHI: Cisco Systems Inc, the global network equipment maker, on Wednesday announced plans to set up a pilot facility in Chennai to manufacture internet protocol phones and has selected one of its global partners — Foxcon — to work on the facility.

 

The San Jose-based company has also selected India as the site of Cisco Globalisation Centre, elevating the country as a key location in the company’s global strategy and expects to triple its workforce to 6,000 from 2,000 over the next 3-4 years.

 

Spelling out an update on the investment plan in India, John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, said the company has allocated $50 million for a new research and development (R&D) campus in Bangalore which is expected to be completed by June 2007.

 

These R&D activities continue to be complemented by work done by Indian strategic partner companies. “India offers opportunities for manufacturing in many areas,” Chambers told reporters in New Delhi.

 

Chambers aims to tap growth in India and China, the world’s two fastest growing major economies, as telephone and cable companies expand and upgrade their networks. Sales from the two will help Cisco’s revenue growth in Asia accelerate in the year ending July and surpass the 20% growth reported last year for the region, excluding Japan, the company has said.

 

Chambers is visiting India for the third time as part of a trip that includes meetings in Bangalore on Thursday.

 

Chambers, discussing the company’s investment progress in India with minister of communications and information technology Dayanidhi Maran, said that Cisco, which has allocated $100 million venture capital investment in high-growth companies based in India, plans to invest another $25-30 million over the next few months in broadband content and digital media. Last year, Cisco invested $5million in Indiagames and Bharti Telesoft.

 

The US networking giant would also invest $100 million to enhance technical service capabilities under its customer support operations. These investments are part of the $1.1 billion that the company had committed in October 2005.

 

The $30 billion company treats India as a strategic market and its largest research and development centre is in the country. It dominates the networking market in core technologies of routing and switching. The company continues to expand its customer support operations in India and plans to invest $100 million in growing its technical services capabilities, spare parts depots and channel development. It recently established a 24x7 premium spare depot in Chandigarh.

 

Cisco started operations in India in 1995 and now employs over 2,000 people in its global R&D centre in Bangalore and sales offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad and Colombo, Sri Lanka.

 

Some of its Indian clients include ICICI Bank, Tata group, Reliance, Infosys Technologies, Wipro, the Taj Group of Hotels, Larsen & Toubro and HLL.

 

 

Cisco has selected one of its global partners — Foxcon — to work on the Chennai facility

 

Company has allocated $50 million for a new research and development campus in Bangalore

 

It will invest $100 million to enhance technical service capabilities under its customer support operations in the country

 

These investments are part of the $1.1 billion that the company had committed in October 2005