Monday, March 24, 2014: India is facing a major crisis in the domestic electronics market as the country has registered some significant fall in the local production. Most of the Indian electronics vendors, specifically the ones catering to the smart device markets are turning to international territories for cheaper manufacturing. This is majorly due to the government of India’s (GOI) unfriendly policies. Sam Pitroda says that India cannot rely on importing electronics any more.
Even though the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) did wake up to a few reforms, many collective organisations from the industry sectors are expressing their concerns. At an synergistic session with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) members of the Mysore chapter, on Saturday, Sam Pitroda said, “India has lost a great deal of edge in manufacturing electronic goods due to lack of attention in this sector.”
Pitroda, chief of National Innovation Council further added, “India imports $80 billion worth of electronic goods and exports $100 billion worth of software. We need about 900 million phones, 300 million smartphones, 200 million tablets, 200 million laptops annually. This indicates that there is enough market for $80-90 billion business in India. There is also a great demand for TVs and set-top boxes.”
With a population of 1.3 billion people, he said that India had lost a generous portion of time and “cannot rely on importing electronics any more.” In an estimate almost $1,000 worth of electronic goods are needed only for four-wheeler cars in India. If the country is able to domestically produce 10 million cars, it can additionally generate a huge market for electronics.
GOI may be facing criticism over its policies, but industry organisations are still hopeful of tapping the electronics manufacture growth by way of taking internal measures, which will empower the economy and descend the dependence on imports.
