Behind the electronics surprise

With the building blocks for incentives all in place for taking electronics manufacturing to $500 billion by 2030, Business Standard looks at the past, present, and future of an Indian success story

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

It was conceived as a "Make in India" boost to the electronics component industry across sectors - from mobile devices and consumer electronics to auto, industrial electronics, and telecom.

But the start was slow, with government officials having to extend the deadline by a month after many companies failed to submit applications fast enough.

However, when the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) closed on September 30, the results came as a complete surprise. The response was overwhelming: As many as 249 applicants were ready to invest a total of over ₹1 trillion, more than double the scheme's target. And its initial target of production value was crossed by 2.2 times to₹4.56 trillion, along with the promise of 142,000 jobs.

The overall tenure of the scheme is six years, with a one-year gestation period - that is, it runs until March 31, 2032.

A senior official at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) said: "We never imagined this kind of response. We thought we would get investments of $7.5 billion or so but we got $14-15 billion. No government scheme has seen such a response, and the key reason is we had massive engagement with stakeholders."

Not everyone will be eligible for the incentives, though, as that would mean doubling the ₹22,806 crore allocated for sops. And there are many applicants who might not even be serious players. But the phenomenal interest in the scheme has affirmed faith in India's growing status in the global electronics market. India is the world's third-largest mobile phone manufacturer by value, and also ranks in the top ten in terms of all electronics manufacturing. China dominates both these categories.

Ambitious targets