Krishnan calls on the industry to focus on component manufacturing
India should aim for 40% local value addition in electronics as there is no one country that is ever going to own the entire value chain, according to S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
“The best case would be probably China which has about 40% to 45% of the entire value chain,” he noted, pointing out that India should think in the range of 35% to 40% of the value chain and focus on achieving that.
Krishnan also said that the industry should focus on component manufacturing, taking inspiration from the success of the auto component industry leading to development of a competitive automotive sector in the country.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Electronics Summit with the theme “Towards US$300 billion: Building AatmaNirbharta in Electronics”, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“Now 99.2% of the mobile phones being used in India are domestically manufactured, therefore, the industry must build export competitiveness and move up the value chain for further growth.”
He also said that due to the pandemic and the geopolitical developments, businesses are looking to develop resilience in their supply chains and diversify sourcing partners. “India must take advantage of this development as it will last only for few more years.”
While speaking on design and IP, he encouraged Indian companies to set up design hubs in the country given the vast human resource talent county have.
The Government is also looking for greater participation from industry in R&D to make research more industry oriented.
MeitY is in the process of reviewing its R&D guidelines to see how it can attract larger industry participation, said the Secretary.
India is strategically positioned to go into the hardware sector as it has the advantage of a competitive software industry, according to Dr Randhir Thakur, Chairman, CII Task Force on Semiconductor and Managing Director and CEO, Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd.
He emphasized on a six-point focus for India to become Aatmanirbhar in Electronics; demand creation (local and global), infrastructure, talent, innovation, IP and execution.
Thakur noted the Government’s clear strategy for the sector, and called on the industry to come up with a clear roadmap to make the best of the incentives being offered by the government.
He also said that long-term commitment is required from the industry as returns in the sector are not immediate.
“We are well placed to reach the sectoral target of US$300 billion,” said Vinod Sharma, Chairman, CII National Committee on Electronics Manufacturing and Managing Director, Deki Electronics Ltd.
However, the industry would need to work in two important areas – scale and skills – “if we aspire to design and produce for the world”.
“The government support is extremely important if we aspire to be innovation and technology powerhouse not just for India but entire world,” added Inderdeep Singh, Managing Director, Continental Device India Pvt Ltd.
To achieve this, he emphasized on improving ease of doing business, building partnerships among different stakeholders, commitment to buy Indian and support Indian and skill building,” he said at the event held on 11 Dec 2023. Fiinews.com
