Cisco Systems inaugurated its first production facility for routing and switching equipment in India. 1,200 jobs are anticipated to be created by the project.

Along with expanding its robust and diverse supply chain, the US networking equipment giant anticipates that the new plant in Chennai would contribute to the Indian business' yearly sales growth to over $1.3 billion.

Cisco and Flex have teamed up to construct the Chennai facility, which will manufacture cutting-edge telecom technologies. The first phase of the company's multi-year investment plan will be centred around Cisco's Network Convergence System (NCS) 540 Series of routers at the plant. Senior top executives have stated that Cisco will only manufacture these items in Chennai.

They went on to say that major technological developments and inventiveness are anticipated for the following stage, which will involve creating multi-layered printed circuit board assembly components. This would enable Cisco to expand its technological

Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco says, “I met the Prime Minister in May 2023 and told him that we would open the facility, and here we are with our first product coming off the lines. We are so excited about India as a local market and export hub for Cisco. We are thrilled and excited to be a part of the GDP growth in this country, in the explosion of manufacturing and IT; leadership in telecom."

Chuck says, “The company has been in India for 29 years and has never been more excited about the opportunity here. We are looking towards an incredible future in India.”

The minister of communications, Jyotiraditya Scindia, encouraged Cisco to establish a solid base in India while she was present at the inaugural ceremony.

He stated that in order to concentrate on producing telecom equipment domestically, the Union Government intends to establish a telecom manufacturing zone.

“We are planning to make it a plug and play model and we are already in talks with stakeholders regarding this. We are looking for anchor tenants and have approached telecom equipment manufacturers with regard to the telecom manufacturing zone," says Jyotiraditya.

Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said the state has become a critical hub for manufacturing and technology innovation. He emphasized that it was now important for the state to move from service to product development.

TRB Rajaa says, “This facility is in line with Tamil Nadu becoming a critical hub for advanced manufacturing and technological innovation.”

“Tamil Nadu continues to attract world-class investments, reinforcing our position in the global supply chain, especially in electronics manufacturing. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration with Cisco as we continue to drive technological growth and industrial leadership in the region," says TRB Rajaa.