DoT directs all state procurements to be of local cyber security products – ET Government

DoT directs all state procurements to be of local cyber security products – ET Government


The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed all state-owned companies, central ministries and government departments to give preference to locally produced cyber security products in all public procurements.

“Preference has to be given to `Make In India’ cyber security products in public procurement by central ministries/departments, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and government organisations,” DoT said in a circular, dated March 16.

This, after the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) earlier this month had said it’s awash with complaints from droves of indigenous cyber product companies about the challenges the latter are facing in participating in public procurement of such products. The MeitY, in a circular dated March 4, had said it had received several complaints that the procuring agencies are citing “restrictive and discriminatory conditions such as turnover, Gartner quadrant, and other certifications in their tenders,” which is making it tough for local cyber security product makers to participate in the relevant bidding process.

The telecom ministry and MeitY’s joint call to all government undertakings to buy locally manufactured cyber-security products comes at a time when cyber security attacks and breaches in the country are reckoned to have jumped by over 500% since the Covid19 lockdowns started a year back.

During the countrywide lockdowns, internet service providers had said they received cyber-attack alerts from corporate clients almost every alternate day compared with an average of once a week, pre-lockdowns.

Back in December 2019, MeitY, in a notification, had described a cyber security product as an “appliance” or “software” produced for protecting information, equipment, computer resources or communication devices from unauthorised access, use, disclosures, disruption and destruction.

It had added that a domestically manufactured cyber security product was one “whose intellectual property is owned by an Indian company/startup”. It has also mandated that the minimum local content of a cyber security product must be equivalent to 60% of its total cost.

MeitY had also notified that the Indian company/startup would require to demonstrate intellectual property (IP) ownership associated with the cyber security products along with the applicable trademarks.

The electronics ministry had said that preference would have to be given to a company incorporated and registered in India or startups that meet the definition prescribed by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), provided the revenue from the product and intellectual property (IP) licensing accrues to the firm in India.

It, though, had said that resellers, dealers, distributors, implementation/support services agencies of products with limited rights to IP — to enable the transfer of rights to use, distribute and modify – would not be eligible for getting preference under the public procurement scheme for cyber security products.





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