Taking exception to the Kerala government's move to use Chinese-origin cable or optical fibre in the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON) project, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday asked the state government explain the “reason or pressure” for not using the domestically available product. Addressing the media over India's growth in the digital sector in the last nine years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, Chandrasekhar pointed out that the country has many optical fibre plants. “This optical fibre is a domestically available product. There are many plants in India that manufacture optical fibre. Why did they (Kerala government) need to import from China? What was the pressure? What was the reason,” the minister asked. Reports said an audit of KFON project, a joint venture of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Kerala State IIT Infrastructure Limited that aimed to provide internet connectivity to the state and free internet to BPL families, revealed that China-origin cables were used. It is violating the regulations, the minister said. “We are not against any country nor are we particularly against a source of the product. But there is one framework in the country — a trusted source. It means, an equipment and its source should be trusted wherever it is from. There is nothing like against one particular country,” said the minister. Following the stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh in 2020, the Centre had come up with a national security directive on the telecom sector, suggesting that telecom service providers use devices which are designated as “trusted products” from “trusted sources”. Reports also pointed out that the project tender floated by the authorities had stipulated strict use of only those products under the ‘Make In India’ programme that are designed, manufactured and tested in India.
