Monday, March 03, 2014: India imports up to 90 per cent of electronic products in order to meet the demands of the domestic market. To strengthen the domestic market and inverse the flow of finance, the government of India has earmarked cash incentives of up to Rs 35.9 million for local electronics manufacturers. This is one of the morale boosting steps from the government for electronics system design and manufacturers.
The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has formulated the award scheme for various departments in the field of e-governance. According to a PTI report, DeitY joint secretary Ajay Kumar, said, “There will be national awards in ESDM (Electronic System Design & Manufacturing) sector to encourage and recognise companies doing well in the field of manufacturing. It will be held every year. Initial outlay is about Rs 35.9 million for 3 years.”
The proposed national award will be given in categories like exports, innovation, fastest growing company, fastest growing small and medium company, best electronics manufacturing cluster, start-up, exemplary work (only recognition, no cash prize) and best among companies set up after ESDM policies.
The award scheme is to descend the dependence of the market over imported entities, as the country already imports 90 per cent of the electronic products. Imports are expected to grow by $300 billion by 2020, in absence of corrective measures. The Indian government has announced National Policy on Electronics, modified special incentive package and electronics manufacturing cluster schemes, to bring down.
Recently, the government also approved setting up of first two electronic chip manufacturing plants in the country, entailing investment of about Rs 630 billion to address economic and security challenge posed by import of electronic products.