Saurabh Gaur noted that India will also make progress in domestic manufacturing of Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable devices
The government of India is taking steps to create 500 champion MSMEs in the electronics sector. This information was revealed by Saurabh Gaur, IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India , during a webinar of MVIRDC Research Study on ‘Promoting Electronic Manufacturing’.
“Government of India is taking efforts to develop 500 champion MSMEs in the electronic sector. Global and Indian electronic companies have committed USD 100 billion production, 80% of which is for exports, under the production linked incentive scheme so far. This revenue positive scheme will create 2.5 lakh direct and indirect employment and also generate significant tax revenue for government,” Gaur said.
He added, “In the last two months, we received 44 applications under another scheme, known as SPECS, which provides capital subsidy for investors. We expect at least Rs. 50,000 crore investment in electronic component manufacturing under this scheme in the next few years.”
Repeating success in smartphones to other electronic verticals
Gaur mentioning about the success India has had in terms of mobile manufacturing noted that the government is keen on repeating the same success in field of laptops, tablets, notebooks and servers. India, as noted by Gaur, will soon join the league of China and Vietnam in terms of leading mobile phone exporters of the world. It is to be noted here that these export smartphones worth USD 140 billion and USD 60 billion, respectively.
“In the case of set top boxes, India domestically develops conditional access systems (CAS), although we are dependent on imports to a large extent. India will also make progress in domestic manufacturing of Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable devices.” Gaur said.
He added, “Government is engaged at high level to attract global semiconductor players by way of direct investment and joint ventures with Indian companies. To start with, India will soon approve major investment in ATMP (Assembly-Test-Mark-Pack) segment.”
Out of Rs 1.15 trillion worth of electronics components that India imported in 2019-20, 37 per cent were imported from China. Sanjay Dhotre, minister of State for Communications and Electronics and IT, revealed these numbers in a written reply in Rajya Sabha recently. The minister, citing data obtained from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), had also noted that India exported smartphone components worth Rs 56,039 crore during 2019-20. Out of the total amount, smartphone components worth Rs 25,441 crore were exported from China.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had recently asked various ministries to formulate plans for boosting domestic manufacturing of goods in the 24 key areas identified by it. Electronics was identified as a key sector among the key 24 sectors.
