Saturday, March 22, 2014: With the recent news of falling domestic manufacturing of electronic products, India is making proactive efforts to counter the slip. To encourage local manufacturing in India, Department of IT and Electronics (DEITY) has formulated the National Planning and Monitoring Council (NEPM). It is expected to implement some domestic electronics sourcing rules for the government contracts.
According to an ET report, the decision has surfaced after many local electronics, hardware and telecom product suppliers complained that they were not able to participate in some telecom projects. The said complaint alleged that the eligibility norms were in favour of foreign suppliers. The program in question was telecom infrastructure project for the Indian armed forces, and it is being served via public sector unit of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). The telecom industry in India accounts to more than Rs 130 billion.
It is reported that many industry organisations like Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA), ELCINA Electronics Industries Association of India (EEIAI), and Telecom System Design and Manufacturers Association (TSDMA) had written to DEITY, citing concerns over the falling domestic manufacturing. The letter was also sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Kapil Sibal, the union minister for telecom and IT.
The above organisations further asked to strictly impose the preferential market access (PMA) policy, which obligates local sourcing of electronics and telecom products for government contracts. DEITY has formulated to check and “to oversee implementation of a policy to provide preference to domestically manufactured electronics products in government procurement.”
The policy is said to be applicable “in case of electronics procurement by all central ministries or departments, excepting defence”. But it will extend to purchases by BSNL, since the project is a ministry enterprise, while local sourcing rules will apply for electronics purchases for governmental purpose.
