By Srabani Sen
Wednesday, July 10, 2013: The good intentions with which the government initiated the recent policies to boost electronics manufacturing may go down the drain if it does not resolve some of the key issues that could prevent the effective implementation of these policies. It also needs to urgently work on changing the attitude of its departments towards indigenous manufacturers. The industry is rife with the speculation that these policies will help MNCs more than the domestic manufacturers. For example, the amount that needs to be invested to avail benefits from the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) policy is so high that only the big MNCs like Bosch Automation and others can afford it.
The industry also points out that these policies are secondary support; the government first needs to create a motivational environment for the Indian manufacturers.
In this issue of Electronics Bazaar, we have featured two articles that challenge the government on two fronts—first, corruption in its departments, which obstructs the growth of an indigenous technology enterprise; and second, the key issues that need to be resolved before the recent policies can be implemented in totality. The story ‘Did the government stunt the growth of an indigenous technology enterprise?’ is chilling, yet motivating. It tells us how the government that is today determined to promote ‘India made’ products, had once placed obstacles in the path of a pioneering enterprise (pg 36).
Has the government strategy changed today? It seems not, as the story ‘Govt talks of localisation, but procures imported products for its departments’ clearly tells us that despite the recent policies that talk about localisation and indigenous manufacturing, when it comes to the purchase or procurement of electronic products, government departments and organisations themselves trust only imported products (pg 42).
We sincerely hope that Electronics Bazaar’s attempt to point out these glaring issues may help the government to take up these shortcomings as challenges, and be more cooperative with indigenous manufacturers who are struggling to survive in a competitive environment.
