Odisha may have BIS testing lab

The state IT (Information and Technology) department has given its assent to the Centre for setting up of Electronics Testing Lab for Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in the state for issuing BIS number to new electronic products.

The consent comes after the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DEITY) under the Union ministry of Communication and Information Technology proposed the state to have one lab here.

The state government has approved the setting up of Electronic Testing Lab for BIS at International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bhubaneswar, a Government of Odisha institute, with financial assistance of DEITY.

Sources said, DEITY has proposed to open such labs in six states in the country and it will provide an assistance of Rs 1.5 crore towards equipment for the lab.

Officials said, the establishment of lab in the state will give a boost to the Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) sector as Odisha government is making strides for transforming the state into a premier ESDM hub.

"It will facilitate development of ESDM sector in the state," said an official.

As per the estimates, the demand for electronics in India is expected to touch $400 billion by 2020 from $ 45 billion in 2008-09. The National Policy on Electronics has set a target to attract investment of around $100 billion and create employment opportunity for 28 million people by 2020 at various levels. The policy also envisages increasing the export in ESDM sector from $ 5.5 billion in 2012 to $80 billion by 2020.

The state IT department has engaged India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA), the premier trade body representing the ESDM industry, to devise a road map for the development of the ESDM industry to grab the opportunities. About 160 acres of the land in the proposed IT Park- Info valley- has been earmarked for the ESDM industry. State's new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy has provisions both for attracting the investors from the software and hardware industry and aims to attract five best ESDM companies by 2020.