Monday, July 22, 2013: In a bid to boost the domestic manufacturing, India is eyeing at manufacturers in Taiwan. A joint delegation of industry and government, led by Dr Ajay Kumar, joint secretary, Department of Electronics and IT, participated in Computex 2013. The electronics event was organised by Taiwan Computer Association (TCA) at Taipei, Taiwan in June this year.
The delegation included Dr. Omkar Rai, DG, STPI, D. P. Singh, additional director, DeitY, Pankaj Mohindroo, president, Indian Cellular Association, N.K. Goyal, president, CMAI, Dr. Ramanna Rao, president, LEDMA and MD, MIC Ltd., Anwar Shirpurwala, executive director, MAIT, Sravanan Chandra Mouleeswaran, vice president, SriCity, Daleep Kaul, head, business development, Sify Technologies, Gaurav Mahindroo, executive assistant, MD, RICO Auto Industries, Devesh Tyagi, director, STPI and Bijesh Kumar Roul, deputy director, India Cellular Association.
A seminar throwing light on the opportunities in the Indian Electronics System Design and Manufacturing sector was organised with the support of India Taiwan Association (ITA) and TCA. Dr. Kumar explained the policy initiatives of the Indian government through a presentation in the seminar attended by over 100 delegates. In addition, Shirpurwala from MAIT talked about the opportunities in the PC/tablet/smart phone and telecom related sectors.
The delegation also met representatives from several Taiwanese companies and industrial associations during the visit. These companies included Everlight Electronics, D-Link Corporation, Gigabyte Technology, HTC, TECO /Century Development Corporation, UMC, AU Optronics (AUO), Nuvoton Technology, Advantech, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), An Won Ltd., Fortrend Taiwan Scientific Corp., Institute of Information Industry (III), Taiwan Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA), Acer, Mediatek, LiteOn and CTBC Co. Ltd. (Chinatrust). Most of these companies have shown interest in the Indian market in a bigger way and evaluating the electronics manufacturing opportunities in India.
A proposal for setting up a Taiwan Electronic City, was also floated during the event, which was much appreciated. The Taiwan Electronic City would aim to facilitate the setting up of dedicated electronic manufacturing cluster, enabling companies from Taiwan to enter into the Indian market. It was felt that the said project could be implemented in collaboration with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). Suitable location is being finalised in consultation with the developer.
At least three confirmed proposals for manufacturing were received during the visit. These companies were looking for joint venture partners for setting up manufacturing facilities in India. Some of the members from the industry in the delegation had separate one-to-one discussions with these companies on the possibility of collaboration. Discussions were also held with one of the leading foundries to set up a mechanism, which would help start-ups and fabless companies to have their chips fabricated in the said foundry. CDAC has been requested to take the discussion further and come up with proposals for the consideration of the Government.
The visit of the Indian delegation highlighted need for continued interaction both at B2B and G2B level to reduce the barriers among Taiwanese companies to enter into Indian market. Industry associations like ICA, MAIT and ELCINA and Government organisations like STPI and CDAC have significant follow up role to continue the dialogue and take the potential leads to actual collaboration/investment.
