The minister released the catch line for the ESDM sector: Electronics India—Billion Needs, Million Chips
With an aggressive effort to attract Rs 25 billion in investments for the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing Sector (ESDM) in 2013, Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications & IT, is conducting roadshows across the US and Japan.
He had also chaired a round table conference on the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing Sector (ESDM) on January 21, 2013, in New Delhi, and had talks with over 50 industry leaders about the road ahead.
At this discussion, the minister received the first major investment proposal under the new National Policy on Electronics. Bosch Automotive Electronics India (P) Ltd submitted its M-SIPS application for an investment of Rs 5500 million in a manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. This first application came in within days of the final guidelines issued by the Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) for receiving M-SIPS applications. Welcoming the investment, the minister said that many others are expected to take advantage of the policy and make their investments.
The minister stressed the need to invest in avionics, automotive electronics, medical electronics, and LED sectors, as these are the growing sectors in the coming years. Over 50 top industry leaders participated in the round table conference, besides
J Satyanarayana, secretary, DeitY; Pradeep Rawat, director general, India-Taipei Association; Ajay Choudhary, founder HCL and Dr Jagdish Prasad, DG health services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
Speaking at the round table discussion, Sibal said, “The common perception about electronics is sometimes that it relates to IT, telecom and consumer electronics. But electronics is a meta resource, which pervades practically all sectors of economy. Therefore, the new policy framework has been specifically formulated to cover sectors like avionics, automotive electronics, medical electronics and LEDs.”
Urging the automobile manufacturers to use domestically developed capabilities in automotive electronics, he said that electronics can drive fuel efficiency and reduce accident hazards. He specifically mentioned medical electronic devices as an area of huge potential. “India needs to develop devices that will meet the needs of 1.25 billion people. Currently, a very small fraction of the population is able to take advantage of the medical technology. The government is already in the process of bringing out amendments in the legal framework to create standards for medical devices. This will help new devices to arrive in the market much faster,” he said.
Satyanarayana said that the DeitY will be supporting the development of new medical electronic devices in a public private partnership model.
The minister also released the catch line for the ESDM sector: “Electronics India—Billion Needs, Million Chips”. The minister said, “The catch line reflects the huge size of the Indian market and its innovative capabilities. These are the USPs on which we are marketing India as the new destination for investments in electronics system design and manufacturing.”
By EB Bureau
