The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has formed an advisory board on making India a $300 billion electronics manufacturing hub by 2026.
Called the “Digital India Electronics Mission $300 Billion”, the board is composed of members from major local and multinational electronics brands and industry bodies. It succeeds in a fast-tracked task force set up in December 2014, that focused only on smartphone manufacturing. With the new group, the ambit has been expanded to include other categories like IT hardware, wearables, LED lights, etc.
In a circular shared by the ministry, there are 10 members in the advisory group, led by Amitesh Kumar Sinha, joint secretary, electronics, MeitY. The group also has Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA, and top executives from Lava, Samsung, Apple, HP, Dell, Foxconn, Intel, and Coconics.
The group will be composed of the following members –
1. Hariom Rai, Managing Director, Lava
2. Virat Bhatia, Managing Director, Apple
3. Manu Kapoor, Senior Vice President, Samsung
4. Josh Foulger, Country Head and MD, Bharat FIH
5. Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA
6. Ketan Patel, Managing Director, HP India
7. Alok Ohrie, President and MD, Dell
8. Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India
9. Sreejith Nair, CEO, Coconics
10. Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Joint Secretary (Electronics), MeitY
Speaking about the advisory group, Mohindroo said the basis for forming the group came from a report published by ICEA that outlined the strategies, challenges, and policy work needed to achieve the $300 bn target. The report outlines that to achieve the $300 billion target, mobile manufacturing has to increase from $30 billion in 2021 to $126 billion by 2026, while IT hardware manufacturing has to go from $3 billion presently to $25 billion, and so on.
“These are tight numbers that have been committed by us to the Prime Minister. The number will come out of certain categories outlined in the vision report. We have to now ensure we are firing on all cylinders to make them happen,” Mohindroo told ET.
The advisory group will be meeting in the coming weeks to decide on the roadmap, shape the industry’s competitiveness, mitigate disabilities, and improve the ease of doing business.
The ICEA report states that while the earlier target was at $400 billion by 2025, disruptions from the pandemic led to a revised target of $300 billion, which is a 300% increase from the $75 billion level in 2021. The report argues that the domestic market for electronics, at $75 billion, is not big enough to achieve this ambitious target, so India has to expand its share in the global market.
