The government is looking to notify five clusters for manufacturing electronic products by February next year, with an effort to cut import dependence of such items.
Friday May 3, 2013: According to an Economic Times report, each of these clusters, which will house the eco-system required for manufacturing specific kinds of devices, will also get financial support of up to Rs 500 million from the government.
The plan to notify five electronics manufacturing clusters is part of three-month agenda finalised by Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal with Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY). Confirming the information, DEITY Joint Secretary Ajay Kumar said: “There are proposals from industry associations for setting up clusters. We have to verify them which will take some time. The target is to notify five clusters within next three months.”
Earlier on 3 July, the government had approved the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster scheme, which aims to reduce the country’s dependence on imports for various electronics items.
The country imports electronics items worth about $40 billion at present, according to Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA). The National Electronics Policy draft forecasts such imports to touch a whopping $300 billion by 2020.
ELCINA, which has announced its plan to set-up cluster, said the association is waiting for guidelines for setting up clusters before it starts working on the identified clusters.
“The scheme has been notified but we are waiting for final guidelines,” said Rajoo Goel, secretary general, ELCINA. He said the interest from investors for these proposed clusters has also increased. “Earlier, member groups of 15 to 20 companies had confirmed their interest for these model clusters but now there are around 25 to 30 companies,” Goel said.
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