The government has modified public procurement norms to give maximum preference to companies whose goods and services have 50 per cent or more local content, a move aimed at promoting 'Make in India' and making the country self-reliant. The revised Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India), Order 2017, has introduced a concept of Class-I, II and non-local suppliers, based on which they will get preference in government purchases of goods and services.

The commerce ministry has clarified that export incentives under Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) will be available to exporters only up to December 31 this year. The government after approving a new scheme – remission of duties and taxes on export products (RoDTEP) – in March this year has stated that MEIS will be phased out after rolling out of this new scheme. Under MEIS, the government provides duty benefits depending on product and country.

At a time when the 5G spectrum auctions appear to have been delayed till next year, industry body COAI has said that the government should facilitate creation of indigenous IPR around the high-speed mobile technology by developing local use cases through engagement with start-ups and businesses.

DG, COAI, said that the government should use the intervening period to carry out the groundwork related to the technology, especially with regards to developing India-specific solutions around the network and usage.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is likely to clarify the matter of basic customs duty (BCD) on imported solar equipment within the next two months. A 20 percent basic customs duty had been announced in the last budget but has not been imposed yet. Developers have been keenly awaiting such a clarification since the duty will impact their cost of setting up a project and thereby the tariff they charge for the power generated.

The submission of source code by original equipment makers may not address India's security needs since it comprises of commercially valuable, confidential and sensitive information, and follows a frequent software delivery mechanism on networks, said COAI to DoT in a letter dated 23^rd June 2020. 

The letter comes after India's move to seek source code for network equipment as a part of security assurance standards proposed by the department's National Centre for Communications Security (NCCS), based in Bengaluru.

• Notice for stakeholder consultation on Indian Telecom Security Assurance Requirements (ITSAR) on E-Node B and P-Gateway. Read more
• Inviting inputs on the draft ER of IP Multimedia Conferencing Equipment. Read more
• Letter regarding review of old Generic Requirements (GRs)/ Interface Requirements (IRs) documents of MT Division. Read more
• Letter requesting for comments regarding withdrawal of GRs of certain Telecom Products pertaining to IT division. Read more
• Office Memorandum on Policy for adoption of domestic/international standards by TEC Standardization Guide. Read more

The Ministry of Power (MoP) has issued an amendment to its guidelines and standards for the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles (EVs). The guidelines were issued by the Ministry in December 2018 and were revised in October 2019. The amendment has now specified that the tariff for the supply of electricity to the EV public charging stations should not be more than 15% of the average cost of supply of power. This ceiling was not given in the earlier guidelines. Besides this, the amendment has added a few more important points to the existing guidelines. The amendment has now added a clause to say that for all practical purposes, the battery charging station (BCS) will be treated at par with the public charging station (PCS), and the applicable tariff for electricity supply will also be the same as for the PCS. Here, PCS means any EV charging station, while BCS implies a station where the discharged or partially discharged batteries of EVs can be recharged electrically.