Industrial electronics vital to India's $500 bn manufacturing goal: ICEA

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) on Monday underlined the need for focusing on industrial and infrastructure electronics to achieve the $500 billion electronics manufacturing target by 2030-31.

The future of India's electronics industry lies not only in the manufacturing of products, but equally in the manufacturing of goods that will automate factories, cities, and transportation networks, the industry body said in a release.

Accordingly, ICEA said industrial electronics must be front and centre of India's electronics growth strategy.

ICEA, in the release, called for "the urgent need to prioritise industrial and infrastructure electronics as a central pillar of India's $500 billion electronics manufacturing target by 2030-31".

Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA, stressed that the industrial electronics segment must be recognised as a national strategic priority.

"It is the brain and nervous system of every advanced manufacturing setup. Without leadership in industrial automation, India cannot claim true manufacturing leadership," he said.

Mohindroo noted that industrial electronics has massive potential for high-skilled employment, particularly in areas such as embedded systems, automation software, robotics, and AI-integrated systems.

India must invest in talent pipelines, research and development and incentives to grow this sector, ICEA said, adding that the country should aim to become not just a user of industrial electronics, but a global design and manufacturing hub for it.

Manish Walia, VP at Delta Electronics, believes the industrial electronics forms the technological backbone of modern manufacturing infrastructure, powering smart factories, robotics, intelligent grids, automated systems, and future-ready transport and logistics networks.

ICEA is spearheading efforts to craft a dedicated policy and strategic roadmap for industrial electronics through its Steering Committee on Industrial Electronics and Infrastructure, in close collaboration with the government and leading industry stakeholders.

The steering committee has senior executives from Delta Electronics, Infineon Technologies, Festo, Fanuc, Rockwell Automation India Pvt. Ltd, Feedback Advisory and Federation for Economic Development.