Prasad to meet Panagariya today

Niti Aayog paper to boost electronics manufacturing, jobs will be discussed; another discussion with Irani

Electronics and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will be meeting Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya on Friday to discuss growth and jobs in electronics manufacturing.

The Aayog has prepared a strategy paper on such manufacturing and after the meeting is likely to place the proposal before the Union Cabinet. The Aayog has proposed a 10-year tax holiday for companies investing over $1 billion (Rs 6,600 crore) in the sector. The potential for growth and jobs in the segment is considered immense.

Also, the value of mobile phones made in India is likely to touch Rs 94,000 crore in this financial year, with 25 handset makers starting their production. Prasad recently said mobile phones worth Rs 19,000 crore were made in 2014-15 and Rs 54,000 in 2015-16.

The government has set up electronic manufacturing clusters in different parts and offered a better tax regime and incentives for the sector.

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani will also meet Panagariya to discuss job-creation incentives. The meeting with both ministers is part of Panagariya’s vision to create mega coastal economic zones (CEZs) to drive exports and jobs, with electronics and textiles in mind.  Panagariya has been pushing for Shenzhen-style CEZs on India’s western and eastern coasts.

A few months earlier, he’d given a presentation to the Prime Minister’s Office that much of the demand for labour-intensive sectors might be in export markets.