Govt releases roadmap and Vision Document for Electronics sector

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in association with ICEA on Monday released a 5-year roadmap and Vision Document for the electronics sector. It is titled “300 billion dollar Sustainable Electronics Manufacturing & Exports by 2026”. This roadmap is the second volume of a two-part Vision Document - the first of which was released in November last year. Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw addressed some points raised by industry leaders during the recent interaction with him. Addressing industry’s apprehensions over the issue of dual regulations in mobile manufacturing, the Minister clarified that telecom department is not going to enter into mobile manufacturing and the mobile manufacturing regulatory regime will remain same. This report provides a year-wise break-up and production projections for the various products that will lead India’s transformation into a 300 billion US dollar electronics manufacturing powerhouse, from the current 75 billion US dollar. The 300 billion US dollar electronics manufacturing comes on the back of 10 billion US dollar PLI Scheme announced by the government to propel forward the Semiconductor and Display ecosystem.
The government has committed nearly 17 billion US dollar over the next 6 years across four PLI Schemes - Semiconductor and Design, Smartphones, IT Hardware and Components. The Vision Document makes a strong recommendation on the need to focus on aggregate domestic value addition in the electronics sector. It also details the key role Indian champions will play in addition to global companies. The report seeks a competitive tariff structure on electronic components and removal of all regulatory uncertainty. The report recommends a “winner takes all” strategy backed by economies of scale and global competitiveness, new and revised incentive schemes for some sectors, and the need to address issues of sustainability and ease of doing business.