Cisco plans to expand its investments in India, which is emerging as a key hub for manufacturing, engineering and chip design, even as a trade agreement between India and the United States remains pending.
Speaking at CNBC-TV18’s Gateway to India Leadership Corridor event, Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins said the company sees strong long-term growth opportunities in India. He said its manufacturing operations are growing, with products increasingly being exported to global markets, while investments in engineering and digital skills are also set to deepen.
“The opportunity exists independent of that,” Robbins said, referring to the pending India-US trade deal. “India is moving forward. The growth is here, the commitment to the technology is here.”
Cisco entered India in 1995 and has since expanded beyond hiring talent and engineering to chip design and manufacturing. Robbins said the company had also invested heavily in digital skills, training more than one million students in India over the past year to prepare them for technology-related jobs.
Cisco turns India into an export hub
Robbins said Cisco changed its manufacturing strategy after earlier efforts failed to achieve scale. Instead of making a single product for the Indian market, the company expanded the range of products manufactured in the country and began using India as an export base.
“Our plan was to expand well beyond one product, and then also… use it as an export hub,” Robbins said.
More than half of the products Cisco manufactures in India are exported, he added. The company now makes six product lines in the country.
Cisco looks to build local supplier network
Cisco’s next priority is to develop a stronger network of local suppliers to support more advanced manufacturing, Robbins said.
He noted that one of the company’s products made in India contains nearly 30,000 components, highlighting the scale of the supplier ecosystem needed to expand production.
“We continue to work together to try to bring some of that ecosystem into India,” Robbins said. A stronger local supplier base could reduce logistics costs, improve efficiency and support India’s manufacturing ambitions.
Robbins said Cisco would welcome greater certainty on trade between India and the United States. However, he maintained that the company’s Indian operations and the country’s technology-led growth could continue regardless of when a bilateral trade agreement is finalised.
For the full interview, watch the accompanying video
India can succeed without US trade pact, says Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins
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