Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State, Electronics and Information Technology & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, said that we are at the inflection point in terms of opportunities that lie in front of us and this is indeed the best of times for India. He said this while addressing the Report Back and Valedictory Session of the 4th CII Global Electronics Summit (organised virtually),
Chandrasekhar emphasised that domestic electronics manufacturing in India has seen tremendous growth since 2014 breaching the ₹5 lakh crore mark. Commenting on the recent developments, he added that the last two years have demonstrated India’s resilience in spearheading vaccination and extending timely stimulus support and thereby demonstrating that India has showcased the ability to think of the future while taking cues from the past.
Chandrasekhar highlighted that the runway towards the US$300 billion-mark is clearly visible now and MeitY’s approach of broadening and deepening the electronics ecosystem will be pivotal in achieving the same. Addressing a few concerns raised by the industry, the Minister said that forging collaborative R&D is the way for the future and MeitY, through its various institutions, remains keen on collaborating. Towards this, Government capabilities need to get complemented by those of industry’s including start-ups. He said that this is an opportune time where industry and Government’s intentions stay aligned.
Sharing his views about India’s opportunity in capitalising global refurbishment market, Shri Chandrasekhar said that some issues need to be worked out but emphasised that if seized, this can bode well in creating huge employment. He added that India already has a successful model on skilling and the Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will soon be announcing 3-4 pilot projects directed at promoting skilling. MeitY is also optimistic about enabling private sector’s financial and employment support in skilling, the Minister added.
In order to encourage manufacturing of products not made in India currently, the Minister highlighted that working upon tariffs and duties stands crucial.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) while welcoming the Minister, said that MeitY’s approach of broadening and deepening the value chain to move from assembling to manufacturing is the need of the hour. He said that Hon’ble Minister’s strong emphasis on promoting design-led manufacturing and developing a domestic component ecosystem will go a long way in serving the cause of making India self-reliant.
Vinod Sharma, Chairman – CII National Committee on ICTE Manufacturing and Managing Director – Deki Electronics, emphasised that while our world has changed irreversibly in the last three years, the Indian Electronics Industry came together and has been unanimous in seeing today as an immense opportunity. He welcomed Minister’s call for the industry to lead this transformation to becoming a design-led and deeply engaged value chain driven manufacturer.
This Report Back & Valedictory Session was preceded by deliberations conducted across 5 thematic sessions which formed the core of 4thedition of the CII Global Electronics Summit. The Sessions were chaired by Dr Ajai Chowdhry, Founder – HCL & Chairman, EPIC Foundation; Mr Vinay Shenoy, Managing Director – Infineon Technologies; Mr Sunil Vachani, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on ICTE Manufacturing and Chairman, Dixon Technologies (India) Limited; Mr Jasbir Singh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer – Amber Enterprises India Limited; and Mr Vinay Dorle, Industry Lead – High Tech, Aerospace & Defense, Accenture India. The session chairs presented key recommendations emanated from their respective sessions to the Hon’ble Minister.
The discussions covered areas like ensuring domestic sourcing of semiconductors and displays;enabling design-led manufacturing to achieve ‘scale’; turning the tide: manufacturing products not made in India; establishing domestic component ecosystem and a session on emerging technologies: shaping the future of electronics manufacturing.
The two-day Summit witnessed wide participation and rich deliberations by senior Government officials and senior industry representatives/ CXOs from diverse verticals within electronics.
