Govt urges electronics, mobile companies to step up manufacturing, export from India

The government recently exhorted leaders of electronics and mobile industry to step up investments as well as manufacturing in India and asserted that fundamentals of the economy remain strong despite global turbulence. Addressing CEO and heads of leading electronics and mobile companies like Apple, Dell, Oppo and Samsung among others, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made an aggressive pitch positioning India as global hub for manufacturing, and urged the players to look at India “with greater vigour, and more commitment”. He asked them to step up investments not only in mobile and automotive electronics segment but also strategic, defense and medical electronics, and robotics. “In spite of all the turbulence we are witnessing globally, India’s fundamentals of economy is strong, be it...foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or foreign reserves... all point toward robustness of our economy,” Prasad said.

The minister cited the government’s pro-growth, pro-investment policies and the sheer strength of India’s market, talent pool, and digital profile to argue that the country’s aspirations for electronics manufacturing and exports are not “far-fetched”. India has set its sight on creating a USD 400 billion (around Rs 28.43 lakh crore) electronic manufacturing ecosystem by 2025, and notified a new policy to galvanise manufacturing activities. Terming 5G as the new frontier for growth, Prasad said the government is keen to see that India emerges as a big hub for 5G knowledge economy, patent creation, and Research and Development activities. Prasad instructed his Ministry to set up an institutionalised mechanism in form of a taskforce that would regularly interact with the industry, take their suggestions and address concerns. ■