IANS | 11 Feb, 2024
India has embarked on the journey to reach $300 billion electronics
production, including $100 billion in exports, in the coming few years
which is a realistic and achievable target for the government, Union
Minister for Electronics and IT and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said
here on Saturday.
Addressing the ‘Global Business Summit’ event in
the national Capital, the minister said that the overall manufacturing
ecosystem, developing at a very fast pace, has given them confidence to
meet those targets in a few years’ time.
“Component manufacturers
have started shifting to our country. A lot of electronics and
semiconductor design work has kicked-off. All this will ensure that
India becomes a trusted partner in the global value chain (GVC) in a
short span of time,” Vaishnaw told the gathering.
The government
reduced the import duty on components used in smartphones to help
domestic manufacturers compete with rivals in China and Vietnam and this
is likely to increase the growth momentum of exports.
After the
success of the PLI scheme for mobile phones, the government is expecting
that PLI for IT hardware and server will also lead to more investments
in the component ecosystem in the country to develop the supply chain.
India has become the second-largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world (in volume terms).
The
export of mobile phones has also increased from an estimated Rs 1,566
crore in 2014-15 to an estimated Rs 90,000 crore in 2022-23, making an
impressive increase in exports by more than 5,600 per cent.
Highlighting
India’s remarkable progress in the 5G rollout, Vaishnaw said that “we
achieved 5G rollouts within 16 months using ‘Make in India’ equipment,
positioning our technology to compete with the global standards.”
“Every citizen, regardless of their socio-economic status, should have access to advanced technology,” the minister stressed.
He
said that the story of semiconductors in India has been worthwhile. “In
June last year, the Micron semiconductor project was announced during
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit. In less than 90 days, a
ground-breaking ceremony happened in Sanand, Gujarat,” said the
minister.
In September last year, US-based Micron Technology
started the construction of a Rs 22,500 crore facility in Sanand,
Gujarat, that will set a benchmark for India’s semiconductor journey.
