Equipment delays prompt ELCINA to seek extended gestation periods under ECMS.
The Electronics Industries Association of India (ELCINA) has urged the government to extend the gestation period for high-value electronics manufacturing projects under the electronics component manufacturing scheme (ECMS), citing delays in sourcing imported capital equipment.
The ECMS currently provides beneficiaries with an optional one-year gestation period. Elcina has proposed extending this to two years for multilayer printed circuit boards (PCBs) and three years for high-density interconnect (HDI) PCBs used in smartphones, laptops and other advanced electronics. It has also called for similar extensions for other capital-intensive segments with longer production ramp-up cycles.
The industry body said the ECMS has attracted more than ₹695 billion in investments across 106 approved projects, which are expected to generate around 75,000 direct jobs. However, manufacturers continue to face delays because a large portion of the capital equipment and critical spares required by these projects is imported from China.
According to ELCINA, lengthy equipment delivery schedules, customs clearance procedures and residual import duties can delay plant commissioning, production ramp-up and yield improvement. Such delays can make it difficult for companies to meet the sales and employment thresholds linked to incentives under the scheme.
The issue is particularly relevant to PCB manufacturing, where existing incentives and state-level support are estimated to cover around 55-60 per cent of capital equipment costs. This makes both the cost and timely availability of imported machinery important to project viability.
ELCINA president Sasikumar Gendham said projects involving significant imported machinery, lengthy customer qualification processes and multi-year yield stabilisation cannot be effectively evaluated using a uniform one-year gestation period.
The association has also sought clearer basic customs duty exemptions for specialised machinery, tools and critical spares used in advanced electronics manufacturing. It has proposed a fast-track customs clearance channel for ECMS-approved projects to reduce delays.
ELCINA said longer and more flexible gestation periods would allow manufacturers to follow realistic investment and production schedules while strengthening India’s domestic electronics component ecosystem.
