A new policy for the electronics sector has been approved by the Maharashtra government. This is among the five policies that is going to be unveiled during the ‘Make in India Week’ which will begin on Saturday, 13 February in Mumbai.
The new policies are being refined for drawing more and more investments into the state. The Maharashtra government is going to sign five or six Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) in the presence of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during the event. The cumulative value of the MoUs are over Rs 50,000 crore. It also includes an agreement with Sterlite Technologies for a fabrication unit in Nagpur, and with Nestle for a unit in Bhandara.
As per officials, the government is also going to enter into agreements with Coca Cola and Raymond regarding setting up of plants in Morshi as well as in Amravati district.The official also pointed out that the MoU that is going to be signed with Sterlite Technologies is going to be among the largest amounting to Rs 16,000 crore. At present, there is an absence of fabrication companies across India. Most of the markets are in Taiwan, Korea and Japan. The policy has incentives which will induce such investments in the state.
The state government has also given its approval for a ‘fab’ policy for fabrication companies for encouraging chip and chip equipment makers as a subset of the electronics policy. Sterlite is the first company that will be availing the new sops and is planning to set up a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel fabrication unit. The company is led by Anil Agarwal and shares common lineage with London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, with regards to optic fibres, fibre-optic cables, power conductors and so on.
According to Swadheen Kshatriya, Maharashtra’s chief secretary, “The benefits as part of the ‘fab’ policy will be applicable only in Marathwada and Vidarbha to boost industrial growth in these regions, and only for huge projects with an initial investment of more than Rs 5,000 crore.”
The benefit is going to be provided to industries that have an initial investment of Rs 5,000 crore and a minimum investment of Rs 10,000 crore over the next ten years. The government is going to give a maximum capital subsidy of 10 per cent, along with other incentives that are already offered to companies in the electronics sector.
All in all, with the new policy that will be in place till till 2020, the Maharashtra government is hoping to get an investment of $3 billion over five years for supporting an industry that is worth $12 billion. The government is also hoping to generate around one lakh jobs in consumer electronics manufacturing, telecommunications, manufacturing of lithium ion batteries, Light Emitting Diodes, etc.
