India has a long history of infrastructure development in the electronics sector, but its performance on the manufacturing front is still way behind, P M Mathew, Director, Institute of Small Enterprise Development, has said.

While the demand for electronic products in India is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020, its manufacturing base within the country has been negligible. As a result, the import value of electronic items is expected to exceed the import value of oil by 2020, he said.

Mathews was briefing media prior to the release of the India MSME Report 2015 brought out by the Kochi-based ISED.

The policy reforms in the sub-sector, therefore, need to be examined closely and critically. The Government, under its 'Digital India' programme, has set an ambitious goal of net zero imports in electronics. To realise this goal, the effort is to make India a globally attractive destination for electronics manufacturing, where electronics is manufactured not only to meet fast-growing domestic demand, but also to export to other countries.

The electronics sector, he said, has the potential to attract investment of $100 billion and provide employment to 28 million people. Besides, growth of domestic manufacturing in the sector would also be a big step towards creating a cyber secure ecosystem in the country, he added.  

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