Having replaced the former Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, the premier policy think tank of the Indian government, aims to play a larger role in the economic policy-making process of the government. The government has entrusted this institution with the duty of fostering an environment conducive to innovation and invention in the field of electronics. NITI Aayog has formulated a set of guidelines and schemes that will bolster India’s competence in the global stage, by supporting the nation’s innovators
By Baishakhi Dutta
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) is the premier policy think tank of the Indian government, providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing strategic and long-term policies and programmes for the government of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and the states.
The government, in keeping with its reform agenda, constituted the NITI Aayog to act as the platform for the Centre and states to work together in the national interest, towards cooperative federalism.
Various initiatives have been taken up to promote innovation in India. The Electronics Development Fund (EDF) was created to help generate an ecosystem for R&D in electronics, as well as to promote IP generation and large-scale manufacturing in India. Initiatives have also been taken to promote incubators and centres of excellence in the sector.
Make in India – a key strategy for the ESDM sector
ESDM is a critical sector of the Indian economy, acting as one of the pillars of the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ programmes. Considering the wide gap between the great potential of the Indian electronics manufacturing sector, and its low levels of achievement, NITI Aayog has prepared a draft strategy paper to promote electronics manufacturing in India. The objective of this strategy is to create an ecosystem in which the Indian electronics industry becomes globally competitive.
The strategy paper, which is titled ‘Make in India – Strategy for Electronic Products’, has been uploaded on NITI Aayog’s website and on mygov.in for comments from stakeholders and the general public.
For more information and the detailed policy statement, visit: http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/Electronics% 20Policy%20Final%20 Circulation.pdf
Government backing for innovators
Slowing growth in the world economy has placed India in a sweet spot. In 2015, India’s growth rate was 7.6 per cent compared to the global average of 3.1 per cent, demonstrating robust fundamentals underpinned by strong domestic demand and an increase in foreign capital inflows. However, there is a compelling case for India to achieve even higher growth rates by intensifying its efforts to boost innovation and entrepreneurship.
The precursor to any innovation is the ability to take risks with an entrepreneurial mindset. It is crucial that people capitalise on the opportunities when the government is providing the requisite digital and physical support infrastructure.
There needs to be a fundamental shift in the minds of those in the Indian tech space. The CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, has stated, “Make India a nation of job creators rather than job seekers.”
Businesses in India need to capitalise on newer technology trends such as artificial intelligence, Big Data, block-chaining, a cashless society, cyber security, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, 3D manufacturing and so on, amongst others, resulting in the disruption of the current ecosystem. Businesses should not only ‘Stay in India’ but also ‘Shift to India’. The Indian startup ecosystem isn’t only limited to Indian entrepreneurs. There have been significant improvements in the ease of doing business in the country, which, coupled with the favorable demographics and the low cost of doing business, make India an attractive destination for foreign nationals to start up businesses.
Facilitating innovation
NITI Aayog has come up with certain schemes to aid and facilitate the work of innovators so that they can deliver the best output in the manufacturing scenario. These schemes are listed below.
Atal Incubation Centres (AICs)
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) intends to establish ‘new’ incubation centres (Atal Incubation Centres) across India by providing them with financial support. These AICs will support and encourage startups to become successful enterprises. They will provide the necessary infrastructure and assistance to startups in their early stages of growth. AIM will provide a grant-in-aid of ₹ 100 million to each AIC for a maximum of five years to cover the capital and operational expenditure in running the centre. The applicant will have to provide a built-up space of at least 929 sqm to qualify for the financial support.
For more information, refer to: http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/ files/Guidelines%20to%20setup%20AIC%20May%202016.pdf
Atal Tinkering Laboratories
Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) will provide a work space where young minds can give shape to their ideas in a hands-on do-it-yourself mode, developing their skills for innovation.
Young children will get a chance to work with different tools and equipment to understand the concepts of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). ATL will contain DIY educational and learning kits with equipment on science, electronics, robotics, open source microcontroller boards, sensors, 3D printers and computers. Other facilities at these laboratories will include meeting rooms and videoconferencing facilities.
With a vision to “…cultivate one million children in India as neoteric innovators,” the Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India. The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds, as well as inculcate a design mindset, computational thinking and adaptive learning through physical computing and other hands-on aids.
In order to awaken the inventive mindset among students, ATLs will conduct different activities ranging from regional and national level competitions, to exhibitions, workshops on problem solving, designing and fabrication of products, and lecture series, at periodic intervals.
Policy boost for electronics manufacturing
NITI Aayog is likely to seek Cabinet approval for a long-term policy to boost manufacturing of electronic products, which will provide a host of incentives. As per the draft strategy, the potential contribution of the electronics industry to a country’s GDP is significant as it accounts for 15.5 per cent in Taiwan, 15.1 per cent in South Korea and 12.7 per cent in China. Yet, in India, the figure is only 1.7 per cent.
NITI Aayog has suggested a 10-year tax holiday for companies investing over US$ 1 billion in electronics manufacturing activities. The government think-tank has also been asked to devise an export-oriented strategy for the industry, since the domestic market at US$ 65 billion constitutes a fraction of the world market, which is over US$ 2 trillion.
