India has been going big on electronic manufacturing for the last few years and in December 2022, Apple became the first company from the country to export smartphones worth USD 1 billion in a month. According to an article by Economic Times, December was the record month for the industry with mobile phone exports of over Rs 10,000 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for 2023 is to have mobile phone exports with the segment featuring in the top 10 export category from India, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, as reported by The Mint. Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government would take all the measures that are required for boosting the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in the country, in an interview with news agency PTI. In 2023, the government will look at widening the manufacturing base beyond mobile phone manufacturing.
“PM Narendra Modi ji’s vision for 2023 is mobile phone exports worth Rs 1 lakh crore, with mobile phones featuring in the Top 10 exported category,” Chandrasekhar said. Mobile phone exports from India were around Rs 45,000 crore which was dominated by Apple and Samsung.
The Minister said that the government is working to broaden the electronic manufacturing ecosystem beyond mobile phones to increase global share in hearables and wearables segment, IT hardware, electronic components, etc. As per a study by electronics component makers body ELCINA, the demand for components in 2020-21 was USD 32 billion (about Rs 2.65 lakh crore) for about a USD 70-billion (Rs 5.8 lakh crore) industry and of this, barely USD 10 billion (Rs 82,000 crore) was manufactured locally, and that too with a majority of imported raw materials.
While the Minister did not elaborate on the specific measures, official sources have shared that the government has plans to come up with a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for hearables, wearables as well as an upgraded PLI scheme for IT hardware and electronics components to boost their local production. “We are going to complement our mobile phone successes by broadening and deepening the ecosystem. The deepening strategy has been there in the semiconductor space. It is very clear we want to do more in our component industry. In the broadening, while we are growing in the mobile phone space, we want to do well in IT server and hardware space, wearable and hearable space. These are all areas that are fast growing globally,” the minister said.
Electronics is one of the fastest-developing industries globally. Electronic products have significantly impacted and shaped the lifestyle of the people of India in the digital world. The digital push stimulated by the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to fuel the demand for electronic devices worldwide. Furthermore, the adoption of electronic devices is estimated to increase steadily and continue to be one of the major global economic drivers. (ANI)
