New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- Manufacturers looking to export connected cars, GPS trackers, and other smart gadgets have a crucial requirement-foreign SIM cards. Without these chips, making products export-ready isn't easy.

Telecom operators have written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) seeking a dedicated licence with at least a 10-year validity for importing foreign SIM or embedded SIM cards for testing and installing in products meant for exports.

They have also asked that only companies holding a unified telecom licence-such as licensed telecom operators and registered machine-to-machine (M2M) service providers-be allowed this import licence.

A dedicated policy on importing SIM cards for use in devices would not only cre...