Dish TV to push 50% STB manufacturing in India

Dish TV to push 50% STB manufacturing in India

It plans to shift 50% of its production to India by FY 21 Q1

Dish TV

KOLKATA: Dish TV India Ltd announced the manufacturing of its set-top boxes in India. Demonstrating its commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ vision, Dish TV India has shifted the production of its set-top boxes to India, adopting a ‘vocal for local’ strategy. The first consignment of made in India set-top boxes is ready and being shipped to the market. The company offers DTH services across the country and operates Dish TV, D2H, and Zing brands in this segment, besides its rapidly growing OTT service brand Watcho.

Being the pioneer and technology leader in the DTH segment, Dish TV India plans to shift almost 50 per cent of its production to India by the Q1 of 2021 while simultaneously benefitting its business and customers. The process will further intensify in the coming months, as the company is planning to also start the manufacturing of the major components of the set-top box and its accessories in India, further boosting its commitment to ‘vocal for local’. Dish TV India plans to make the STB cabinet in India soon, has already started procuring the power adaptor from Indian manufacturers, and is in the advanced stage of talks with remote control manufacturers to produce the remote controls also in India.

Elaborating Dish TV India’s ‘Make in India’ plan, Dish TV India chairman and managing director Jawahar Goel said, “We are thrilled to join the government of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and localize the manufacturing of set-top boxes and other key accessories in India only. This announcement reiterates our pioneering position within the DTH industry as we aim to further expand our business operations and develop products that match the intrinsic needs of our customers.  With the vision of ‘Make in India we reiterate our commitment to producing quality products and are confident that we can achieve several industry firsts. We thank the Government of India for all their support and favorable policies.”

By shifting the production to India, the company looks at scaling manufacturing in the country and ways to enable industry revival. This will further assist them to streamline the supply chain, operations, and management. 

Sharing the optimism, Dish TV India executive director and group CEO Anil Dua added, “Making our own STBs and accessories in India could not have come at a better time. Customer needs are evolving rapidly. As we refresh our STB range with a new set of connected devices and hybrid options, working with local design, development and production are definitely going to be a competitive edge for our business.”

Innovation is at the heart of the Dish TV operations; the company is credited with many firsts in the industry. Launched the first DTH service in the country, Live TV for moving vehicle- DishOnwheels, High- Definition services, Unlimited recording facility in STB, Live TV in luxury trains, Online TV for DTH viewers- DishOnline, Sub-brand for the regional markets- Zing, Home Video System- DishFlix to name a few. More recently, Dish TV India is also the first to launch a voice-enabled (Alexa powered) Smart and Magic range of technologically advanced products and the first DTH company to launch its own OTT platform, Watcho.