The electronics manufacturing industry has urged the government to roll out a separate incentive scheme for PCBA, which presents a $109 billion export opportunity for India in the next five years.
“We are seeking a separate production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for PCBAs. RoDTEP should get instituted on PCBs and that is already in progress ….so the ball is in the government’s court now,” Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the India Cellular and Electronics Association told reporters in a virtual conference on Thursday.
RodTEP (Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products) scheme will replace MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India) Scheme with effect from 1 January 20
PCB is the heart of any electronic device over which all other components are mounted. It forms close to 50% of a smartphone’s bill of materials. PCBs are imported from China while components are mounted here.
With the existing capacity and planned expansion, India is expected to meet 90-99% of PCBA demand for the domestic market of electronics such as phones, tablets, PCs, laptops, TVs, washing machines etc. in the next five years, the report said.
All major phone brands including Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Samsung, Realme and Lava currently source PCBAs locally. In 2020, India’s PCBA imports were a meagre $273 million as against $4.8 billion three years ago.
Samsung has the 60 SMT (surface-mount technology) lines in India, the highest among all. India has about 900 SMT lines while China has about 15,000.
