- The domestic electronics hardware manufacturing sector faces lack of level-playing field against competing nations
- Government is not satisfied with the current level of contribution of the Indian electronics industry to the global market
- India’s share in global electronics production is about 3.3 per cent only
India’s electronics production is estimated at Rs 4.58 trillion in 2018-19, which despite accelerated growth in recent years, still represents only 3.3 per cent share of the global market, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
The domestic electronics hardware manufacturing sector faces lack of level-playing field against competing nations on account of several disabilities which render the sector uncompetitive, Minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
PTI reported that to a question on whether the government is satisfied with the current level of contribution of the Indian electronics industry to the global market, the minister replied in the negative.
Where does India stand?
The government and industry, he said, have taken a slew of initiatives; as a results of which production of electronics in India has risen to an estimated Rs 4.58 trillion in FY19, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25 per cent in the last four years, compared to a rate of 5.5 per cent in 2014-15.
India’s electronics production during 2018-19 is estimated to be Rs 4.56 trillion (about $70 billion) whereas the global electronics production is estimated to be of the order of $2.1 trillion (about Rs 136 trillion). Therefore, India’s share in the global electronics production is about 3.3 per cent only, Prasad said.
Outlining the issues faced by the sector, the minister said these include lack of adequate infrastructure, domestic supply chain and logistics, high cost of finance, inadequate availability of quality power, inadequate components manufacturing base, limited design capabilities and focus on research and development by the industry, and inadequacies in skill development.
The government has taken several steps for promotion of domestic electronics manufacturing industry and exports from the country, he said listing out measures such as rationalisation of tariff structure and Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) scheme amongst others.
Another initiative, the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) provides financial incentives to offset disability and attract investments in the electronics manufacturing sector, he said noting that scheme provides 20-25 per cent subsidy for investments in capital expenditure for setting up of an electronics manufacturing facility.
So far, 212 projects have been approved with proposed investments of Rs 55,182 crore. The incentives committed against these 212 projects are Rs 5,635 crore, the Minister said.