Sibal seeks states’ support for setting up electronics manufacturing units

An exponential growth in demand for electronic hardware in the country, which is projected to increase from $45 billion in 2009 to $400 billion by 2020, provides a huge opportunity for India to become an electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) hub, minister of communications, IT & law and justice Kapil Sibal said today.

Addressing a meeting of state chief ministers in the capital, Sibal sought the state governments' support for promotion of investment in electronics system design and manufacturing. Sibal said the centre has so far received investment proposals worth Rs4,500 crore for setting up such manufacturing facilities.

Sibal said the centre wants state governments to be partners in the ongoing efforts for promotion of investment in ESDM, in order to meet the country's requirements as well as global requirements. He said the central government is taking several initiatives to promote investment in the ESDM sector.

Sibal said the states have an important role to play in creating a pro-investment environment by facilitating the availability of land, water, roads and training infrastructure to provide skilled manpower to support manufacturing activities.

He said the steps being taken by some of the state governments have already shown fruitful results, which are now becoming evident, adding that other state governments should also consider formulation of policies conducive to investments.

Listing the initiatives planned to promote the ESDM in the country, secretary, department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) J Satyanarayana said the government proposes to support the setting up of semiconductor fabrication units by providing subsidy on capital expenditure through a modified special incentive package scheme (MSIPS) for investments across the value chain in ESDM, setting up of electronic manufacturing clusters (EMC) and preferential market access for domestically produced electronic goods in government procurement.

He said proposals for investment worth Rs4,500 crore have already been received for seeking incentive for manufacturing facilities to be set up in states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Utter Pradesh and West Bengal.

Six proposals for setting up of greenfield clusters in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are in advanced stages of consideration, he said, adding that 12 brownfield clusters have already been notified in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Punjab, Utter Pradesh and West Bengal.

Ministers from Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Orissa, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Sikkim attended the meeting along with several senior officials of the Government of India and state governments.

Representatives of various Industry associations, including CEAMA, IESA, ICA, TEMA, CMAI, AIMED, ACMA, ELCMA, CII, MAIT, ELCINA etc also participated in the meeting.