Cisco to manufacture in India; CEO Chuck Robbins says country’s momentum, pace of digitisation incredible

As the company announced its manufacturing plans for India, Robbins said Cisco will have the first products off the line in 12 months, and will expand to a wider array of Made-in-India products over a period of time.

Cisco’s manufacturing in India will be through its contract manufacturers and partners. The company did not comment on the quantum of investments it will infuse.

“We think, we should have first products off the line in about 12 months. We are starting with two of our highest volume products, one of our switches and one of our routers that are widely used in India,” he said.

Robbins also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers.

“I met the PM and several ministers and talked about many topics, among them about our commitment to manufacturing here in India, which we are announcing,” the Cisco top boss said.

The company will also use India manufacturing for exports.

“We are going to be using this and viewing this as a global export hub as well. So we are building a full manufacturing node just as we have it in other places, and we are really excited about it,” the Cisco CEO said.