DoT reminds Govt organisations to give Make in India cybersecurity products preference in procurement

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Tuesday reminded Central Government Ministries, Departments, PSUs, and Government organizations to give preference to Make in India cybersecurity products in public procurement. DoT referred to the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s (MeitY) order dated 4th March 2021 on the issue.

MeitY in its order noted that it had received several complaints from cyber security product companies facing restrictive and discriminatory conditions from procuring agencies. Turner, gartner quadrant, or other certifications in their tender are said to be restrictive for the indigenous supplier to participate in bids.

MeitY had urged Central Government Ministries, Departments, PSUs, and Government organizations to reserve preference for Make in India cyber security products. Cyber security products means a product or appliance or software produced for the purpose of protecting information, equipment, devices, computer, computer resource, communication device, and information stored therein from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction and also for the purpose of cyber forensics and cyber incident response.

DoT has also in other news, aside proposals from multiple entities for revise/review the National Frequency Allocation Plan 2018 (NFAP) for frequency bands up to 1 GHz. DoT has ignored suggestions such as making 25 MHz paired spectrum in the 900 MHz band exclusive for TSPs among others.