Friday, August 22, 2014: Aurangabad will soon emerge as one of the eight locations in India, that develop Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC). The Union Government has allocated Rs 500 million for this project. A 14-member committee of local entrepreneurs met at a convention organised by the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA). They decided to apply to the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) to get Aurangabad notified as a ‘Brownfield’ EMC.
CMIA vice-president Ashish Garde said, “Focused on promoting India as an electronics manufacturing hub, the union government recently identified eight cities where companies setting up such facilities will be eligible for incentives, including subsidy. Under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) notified in July 2012, the government would be providing refunds on capital expenditure for new units or for expansion of more than 25 per cent of existing capacity in Brownfield electronics manufacturing clusters.” He added, “A 14-member local committee has been formed, sufficient to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The committee would prepare a detailed report of the project and would apply for final approval from the union government.”
Former CMIA president Milind Kank said, “The objective is to promote the development of EMCs with world-class infrastructure through financial support by the government of India. It would be a public-private participation project (PPP), which would have investments from the union and state governments and stakeholders. The EMC developed would attract domestic and global investments for the growth of the ESDM sector, help development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, drive innovation and catalyze economic growth of the region by increasing employment opportunities and tax revenues.” As added by Garde, “The department of electronics and information technology (DEITY) has issued a notification and guidelines for the implementation of the EMC scheme to provide guidance and clarity on guidelines during the preparation and appraisal of applications under the scheme to all industries operative in the sector.”
Now, they need to get a government notification soon for the district to get promotion for the EMC. Garde said, “As per the guideline of the EMC scheme, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in the form of a public limited company under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 will be set up to implement the project . CMIA, along with private companies, industry associations, financial institutions, research and development institutions, state or local governments or their agencies and units within the EMC will lend its support for promoting the SPV. Land availability, either at Waluj, Shendra or Chikalthana, would be reviewed. The cluster would require up to 30 acres of land. Later, the proposal would be forwarded to the union government for approval.” He continued, “Aurangabad has suitable climatic conditions (extreme heat with low humidity) and geographical location, along with logistics and support from training and educational institutions to promote electronics industries in a big way. The city would be an ideal place to develop a Brownfield cluster, as a number of tiny, small and medium enterprises are already involved in manufacturing value-added components to support the electronics industry. Considering the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), the cluster would prove extremely beneficial to the region.”
