(T.H)
Given the ‘unforeseen and unprecedented’ challenges brought by the pandemic, India is likely to achieve electronics production of $300 billion by 2026, lower than the target of $400 billion by 2025 set as per the National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019, according to a vision document released by Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) in association with the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA).However, the reduced target still aims for a 400% increase from the current level, the document noted, adding that electronics manufacturing had grown from $37.1 billion in 2015-16 to $67.3 billion in 2020-21 even as COVID-19- related disruptions impacted the growth trajectory in 2020-21.
“While the policy initiatives of the government have had a positive impact on the manufacturing ecosystem, the disabilities have persisted by and large. There are various challenges being faced by the industry across qualitative (non-tariff, infrastructure related) and quantitative (tariff, free trade agreements etc.) aspects and need to be addressed in toto to ensure that manufacturing in India is resilient, globally competitive and able to undertake operations at massive scale,” according to the document. It recommends that for achieving the target of $300 billion in electronics manufacturing by 2025-26, primary focus must be building of scale through incentives and removal of cost disabilities. The documents also called for ‘swift changes’ in respect of existing policies within the next 1,000 days, including stability in import tariffs, decrease in import tariffs for components with no manufacturing base in India, development of skill sets and encouraging major foreign manufacturers to set up components ecosystems in India.
