TN GIM 2019: State aims to launch electronics manufacturing policy in Feb

Tamil Nadu electronics industry aims to capture 10% of $1-trillion opportunity in India

Tamil Nadu is set to come out with a new electronics manufacturing policy for the electronics industry. The development comes at a time when the industry wants the state to capture at least 10 per cent of the $1-trillion electronics market in India. Industry representatives have said the state should replicate the success of automobile in electronics as well.

Speaking at a session on 'Making Tamil Nadu an electronics manufacturing hub' at the Tamil Nadu's Global Investors Meet 2019, Santosh Babu, principal secretary of information & technology, Government of Tamil Nadu, said that the state is the second largest, after Uttar Pradesh, when it comes to electronics manufacturing and has the potential to grab the top spot.

 

To achieve this, the state is planning to come out with a new policy in February and has already prepared its final draft, added Babu. As India relies on electronics imports, the industry needs to develop a robust ecosystem to ease the supply chain. 

Josh Foulger, managing director, Foxconn India, said that Tamil Nadu has a $100-billion opportunity in the electronics industry over a decade, while the same stands at $1 trillion for the country as a whole.

To boost investment, the government needs to focus on giving incentives or schemes like Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), which was given to the IT industry for over 10 years, said Foulger. 

 

Indian electronics industry rose to $70 billion in 2018 from $60 billion in 2017, overtaking Vietnam, even though a major portion of it came through imports.

Ajai Chowdhry, promoter, HCL, said that one of the prime reasons why India ends up importing stuff is because of an inverted duty structure. While Tamil Nadu excels in the automobile sector, it should replicate the same in electronics starting from design to manufacturing, he added.