By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14, 2019: UNION Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Communications and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad will hold round table discussions with prominent leaders of Electronics Industry at Vigyan Bhawan on 16.09.2019. The round table discussion will essentially be to brainstorm about the challenges being faced by the Industry, opportunities and expectations of the industry from the Government so that the Indian electronics manufacturing sector can grow at a fast pace.

The Government of India attaches high priority to domestic electronics hardware manufacturing and it is one of the important pillars of both Make in India and Digital India programmes of the Government. As a result of implementation of several schemes and initiatives for promotion of electronics hardware manufacturing and efforts of the industry, considerable progress has been made in last 5 years, especially in import substitution. Some of the key highlights of the Electronics sector in India include:

Over USD 15 billion worth of investment proposals received directly by the Ministry of Electronics and IT under its flagship investment scheme

Domestic manufacturing has grown from USD 29 billion (in 2014-15) to USD 70 billion (in 2018-19)

India has emerged as the 2 nd largest manufacturer of mobile handsets in the world and one of the world's largest mobile manufacturing facility is based in India

No. of manufacturing units for LCD/ LED TVs has gone up from 25 to 35 units

No. of LED lights manufacturing units has gone up from 10 to 128 units

Generated employment for over 20 lakh persons across the country

Lately exports of electronics goods have started growing rapidly

There is a significant scope for the growth in this sector with the burgeoning domestic market, which is estimated to reach USD 400 billion by 2025 and the on-going global trade dynamics, especially in the technology space. With its strengths in market, technology talent pool, rapidly growing competitive economy and positioning in global dynamics, India truly holds the potential to become the Electronics Factory of the world.

National Policy on Electronics 2019 envisions positioning India as a global electronics hub by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components (including chipsets), and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally. MeitY is planning to embark upon a comprehensive investment and trade promotion programme to make Electronics India a brand synonymous with next Electronics Hub.

Around 50 Industry leaders have confirmed their participation in the round table to deliberate upon the mutual expectations from the Government and the Industry, to achieve the true potential of domestic electronics manufacturing and the measures required to achieve it. Representation has been confirmed from all the major verticals of the electronics sector such as mobile handsets, consumer electronics, strategic electronics, medical devices, Information Technology, electronic manufacturing services, electronic components, telecom and LED lighting, among others.

Key industry leaders joining the round table discussions will be from Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, Lava, Qualcomm, Xiaomi, Dell, HP, Philips, Bosch, Cisco, Flextronics, Foxconn, Nokia,  LG, Panasonic, TDK, Intel, AMD, Wistron, Delta, Salcomp, Sterlite Technologies and Nidec, among others.

While the Union Minister will spell out his vision for the sector in the coming years and will encourage the CEOs to place on the table their commitment to that vision, he will also have an open minded engagement with the CEOs about their expectations from the Government to help them meet their commitments.