Tuesday, December 17, 2013: Demand for electronics in India will see a major thrust in the years to come and the industry will grow majorly in the next 2-3 years. According to a projection made by Anirudh Dhoot, president, CEAMA, the demand for electronics in India will increase up to $125 billion in the coming 2-3 years. Dhoot, who is re-elected as president of CEAMA for the third consecutive year, made the statement. He was present at a recent CEAMA event, that witnessed the unveiling of a report on “Opportunities and challenges in consumer electronics and home appliances” by Arthur D little.
At the CEAMA annual function, R. N Dhoot, Member of Parliament and Anirudh Dhoot, president, CEAMA, felicitated B. D Park, president and CEO, South West, Samsung Electronics, with the ‘Man of Electronics’ award and ‘Man of Appliances’ award to Pradeep Bakshi, president and COO, Voltas Ltd.
According to the report released at the event, consumer durable segment is the fastest growing sector in India. This sector attracted significant investments even during global recession. During FY03-FY13, the industry expanded at a healthy CAGR of 13 per cent. Few pointers were noted down in the report for the improvement and betterment of the industry which are as follows:
1) Infrastructure development- Lack of adequate physical infrastructure such as roads, ports, airports, electricity etc., are adversely affecting the competitiveness and productivity of the domestic home appliances industry in India. Uninterrupted power supply is a necessary condition for operation manufacturing units as power fluctuations can lead to major losses to the manufacturing processes.
2) Raw material, components and machinery- Weak supply chain network and lack of vendor support also affects the quality, productivity and competitiveness of the sector. There should be hassle free import of raw material and components by streamlining the import policy and and through the simplification of procedures.
3) Skill development and training of manpower- In the context of achieving the necessary ‘scale’ and ‘speed’, it is necessary to target skill development at all levels and implement vocational education in schools.
4) R&D and Technology Up gradation- Technology transfer, R&D and IPR creation should be incentivized by government through friendly tax regime.
5) Productivity Enhancement for Raising Profit Margins- To tackle the factors hindering the productivity and competitiveness of the sector, a number of strategic initiatives need to be taken up by Industry Associations, manufacturers and Government.
6) Contract manufacturing- Labour policies in India are not favourable for manufacturing as compared to other competing countries such as China. Therefore, there is requirement of flexible labour policies to enable manufacturers to restructure labour force in response to the market demand.
Addressing the audience, R.N Dhoot spoke about Electronic Hardware being identified as thrust area. He said that government has notified electronic policy to incentivise electronic hardware manufacturing in the country. He told that consumer electronic products of future will provide value added services, such as distance education, medical treatment, electronics news, tele-banking etc. and the Industry needs to plan ahead, and bring latest technology products to India, so that they can benefit from technological developments.
Adding to it, Anirudh Dhoot spoke about the current economic condition with its effect on the current performance of consumer durable sector. He said, “We, at CEAMA, have made efforts to promote the growth and development of electronic hardware industry in the country. The industry has reached an annual turnover of Rs 450000 millionand I would like to express my gratitude towards the Government for the initiatives taken towards the improvement of this industry.” He concluded stating that the demand of electronics in the Indian market is projected to grow to $125 billion in next 2-3 years and $ 400 billion by 2020.
