India’s 5G Equipment Makers Want to Go Global. Can They Compete with the World’s Telecom Giants?
Tejas Networks, HFCL and Dixon Technologies represent three different routes into the global telecom equipment market: developing network technology, building connectivity products and manufacturing hardware for established brands. India’s telecom equipment market could reach $50 billion by FY2032, according to a NITI Aayog–commissioned industry report. But turning domestic manufacturing momentum into durable export success will require more than incentives and large orders. Intellectual property, component supply chains, customer trust and financial resilience will determine how far Indian companies can go.
India has demonstrated that it can build a vast mobile market. The next challenge is to build more of the equipment that connects it—and persuade customers abroad to buy that equipment.
The opportunity is substantial. A report published by NITI Aayog in August 2026 estimates that India’s telecom and network equipment market could expand from approximately $25 billion in FY2025 to $50 billion by FY2032. Yet the country’s exports in this category remained comparatively modest at around $600 million to $1 billion annually during 2020–24, while imports were approximately $4–5 billion a year. These figures underline the gap between domestic demand and international competitiveness.
Their approaches are not interchangeable. Neither is success guaranteed. The real test is whether Indian manufacturers can move beyond winning individual orders to supplying products that overseas operators trust, repeatedly, at commercially sustainable prices.
A $50 billion market is an opportunity, not a guarantee
The projected $50 billion market figure needs context. It refers to India’s domestic telecom and network equipment market by FY2032, not a promise that Indian manufacturers will export $50 billion of products by that date.
The same NITI Aayog–commissioned report sets out a much more ambitious export roadmap, including a potential $40–50 billion export hub by 2035. That is a policy and industry aspiration dependent on investment, innovation, market access and sustained support—not a forecast that companies have already secured orders to fulfil. The report also states that NITI Aayog does not independently confirm the underlying data or methodology, which it attributes to its research partner, CRISIL.
But a large home market can also create a misleading sense of progress. Supplying equipment for a major domestic rollout is not the same as winning business from multiple operators across countries with different spectrum bands, certification requirements, network architectures and procurement practices.
Exports require products that work reliably in the field—and a business capable of supporting them long after delivery.
Three companies, three routes to the global market
1. Tejas Networks: building technology and product capability
Tejas Networks, part of the Tata Group, designs and manufactures wireline and wireless networking products. Its role in India’s indigenous telecom ecosystem includes supplying equipment for BSNL’s 4G network and developing 5G radio access products.
Its international progress is real, but should be described precisely. In its April 2026 results announcement, Tejas reported a contract to supply 5G Massive MIMO radios through NEC for a global customer, a first commercial order for its 4G/5G wireless products in international markets, and successful trials of its 5G products with an operator in the Americas. The company also announced a strategic partnership with Rakuten Symphony to develop integrated Open RAN solutions and pursue joint market opportunities. Trials and partnerships are important steps, but they are not equivalent to a large, fully deployed overseas network.
HFCL’s opportunity is broader than the radio equipment mounted on telecom towers. Its portfolio includes optical-fibre infrastructure, networking products and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) customer-premises equipment.
FWA uses a mobile network to provide broadband to a home or business without requiring a fibre cable to be laid all the way to the premises. This can make it useful in locations where digging trenches, obtaining permissions or extending physical infrastructure is expensive or slow.
HFCL lists indoor and outdoor devices designed for sub-6 GHz and millimetre-wave 5G bands. Its published product specifications include devices designed for multi-gigabit connectivity, although actual performance depends on spectrum, network conditions, equipment configuration and deployment.
The international opportunity lies in offering operators practical alternatives for last-mile broadband and network infrastructure. Yet specifications alone will not win overseas customers. Products must work with local networks, satisfy relevant testing requirements, remain competitive on total cost and receive dependable after-sales support. Export expansion therefore depends on market access and customer validation as much as on engineering.
3. Dixon Technologies: manufacturing at scale, with a different relationship to intellectual property
Dixon’s route is different. Electronics manufacturing services companies produce equipment for customers that may own the design, software or brand. This model can bring production scale and supply-chain expertise without requiring the manufacturer to own every layer of the underlying technology.
A useful example came on 5 October 2026, when US-based Aviat Networks announced a licence-to-manufacture agreement with Dixon Electro Appliances for designated products in its WTM 4000 microwave-radio family in India. Dixon is to manufacture and sell approved products to selected Indian telecom operators, while Aviat retains its intellectual property and continues to provide software and services. The announcement concerns serving the Indian market; it should not be presented as proof of a global export contract for Dixon.
Open RAN can widen the door—but it does not remove the barriers
Traditional telecom networks have often relied on integrated systems in which major components come from a limited number of vendors. Open Radio Access Network, commonly called Open RAN or O-RAN, aims to make network components more interoperable through open interfaces and defined specifications.
For Indian suppliers, this approach can create opportunities to provide radios, software or other network elements that work within a broader multi-vendor system. Partnerships with companies such as NEC and Rakuten Symphony can help Indian products reach customers as part of an established solution rather than requiring a new supplier to sell an entire network independently.
However, “open” does not mean effortless. Operators still need evidence of performance, security, interoperability, energy efficiency and dependable support. Integration can itself be complex, and a customer with a live network has strong reasons to avoid unnecessary disruption.
Government support can help manufacturers invest and compete. India’s telecom Production-Linked Incentive scheme includes support for eligible telecom and networking products, with additional incentives designed to encourage products developed in India. Such schemes can improve the economics of domestic production, but incentives cannot permanently compensate for a product that is unreliable, expensive to maintain or poorly suited to a customer’s network.
The difficult part: owning more of the value chain
India’s export challenge is not simply about assembling more devices. It is about the components, patents, software and engineering capabilities embedded inside them.
Modern telecom equipment depends on sophisticated semiconductors, radio-frequency components and other specialised inputs. Some of these remain sourced internationally. Domestic design and assembly can create value, but dependence on external suppliers can expose manufacturers to price changes, shortages, geopolitical disruption and long lead times.
Intellectual property presents another challenge. Established global vendors have accumulated years of research, patents, engineering experience and relationships with telecom operators. Standard-essential patents—patents covering technology needed to implement a technical standard—can also affect the cost and terms of bringing products to market. The share of such patents held by different companies varies with the patent dataset and methodology, so sweeping claims about one fixed percentage can be misleading.
Indian firms do not necessarily need to replicate every capability of the largest global vendors. They do need a clear competitive advantage: a product that performs better for a particular use, costs less over its lifetime, is easier to deploy, or solves a problem that established suppliers have not addressed adequately.
Research and development must therefore be treated as a continuing investment, not a one-time cost of designing a product. As networks evolve towards 5G-Advanced and eventually 6G, manufacturers will need to keep pace with new standards, security expectations and operator requirements.
Working capital can be as important as technology
Telecom equipment is sold into a market where orders can be large, but procurement and payment cycles are often long. Products may need extensive testing before deployment. International customers can require certification, local integration and field trials before committing to a wider rollout. Once a contract is won, manufacturers may still have to finance components, production and delivery before receiving payment.
That creates a difficult combination: heavy investment up front, uneven revenue and the possibility of delays outside the supplier’s control.
Tejas Networks’ FY2026 results illustrate how sharply revenue can change when a major delivery cycle moves. This does not establish that every Indian telecom manufacturer faces the same financial position, but it demonstrates why order announcements alone are an incomplete measure of business strength.
Investors, policymakers and customers should look beyond headline contract values. Useful indicators include the proportion of revenue earned from exports, repeat orders, gross margins, inventory levels, receivables, debt and the share of products that generate recurring service or software income.
The same discipline applies to public policy. Incentives should encourage genuine research, supplier development, productivity and exports—not merely reward output that would have happened anyway.
Winning the first order is only the beginning
For Indian manufacturers, overseas expansion is likely to be a step-by-step process. A product may first enter a market through a technology partner or a limited deployment. Successful testing can lead to a larger rollout, followed by repeat orders and a local support network. Each stage builds evidence that the supplier can deliver consistently.
Emerging markets may offer opportunities where operators are looking for cost-effective ways to extend broadband and modernise infrastructure. But it would be a mistake to assume that these customers care only about low prices. A network failure can disrupt businesses, emergency communications and public services. Reliability, repair times and long-term product availability matter everywhere.
The most credible international strategy may therefore be selective rather than universal: identify a few product categories and markets where Indian suppliers can compete, build local partnerships, and establish a record of successful deployments before expanding further.
India should also measure progress by how much technical and economic value remains in the country. More locally designed components, stronger semiconductor and radio-frequency supply chains, skilled engineering jobs, patents and sustained export revenue would be stronger signs of progress than assembly volumes alone.
The real test of India’s telecom ambition
India has a genuine opportunity to become a more important supplier to the global telecom industry. Tejas Networks, HFCL and Dixon show how that ambition can be pursued through different business models: technology development, connectivity products and manufacturing partnerships.
Their paths will not be identical, and none is guaranteed to succeed. The domestic market and government incentives can provide a foundation, but they cannot substitute for competitive products, dependable execution and financial discipline.
The decisive question is not whether India can manufacture 5G equipment. It is whether Indian companies can repeatedly win international customers, support their networks over time and earn enough from their technology and manufacturing capabilities to fund the next generation of products.
That is when “Made in India” telecom equipment will become more than a domestic sourcing achievement. It will become a durable position in the global technology supply chain.
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