Electronics manufacturers’ association Elcina has sought funding of Rs 72,500 crore (USD 8.57 billion) to boost local production of raw materials and reduce dependence on imports, an industry official said. The Electronic Industries Association of India (Elcina), the country’s oldest industry body for India’s electronics sector, estimates that the input shortfall in the electronics sector will rise to USD 248 billion (about Rs 21 lakh crore) by 2030 to meet. to produce electronics worth USD 500 billion and will be largely met by imports. The industry body expects the government’s support for non-semiconductor components to help reduce the country’s deficit by USD 146 billion (Rs 12.36 lakh crore) to USD 102 billion (Rs 8.63 lakh crore).
Elcina General Secretary Rajoo Goel told PTI that unlike finished products where the output of a factory can increase by 16 times the investment, an electronic components factory can produce three times the output of the investment.
“People are reluctant to increase their investment in electronic components due to low profit, high operating cost and long gestation period. So we have asked the government for USD 8.57 billion which includes USD 2.14 billion for capex to stimulate the expansion of the industry and USD 6.43 billion as PLI,” said Goel.
The government is actively considering a comprehensive package to support the production of non-semiconductor electronic components.
Elcina has included small electronic components, printed circuit boards, other smart semiconductors and active components, metal components etc. in the equation.
According to the industry body, the components that require support make up 60 percent of the total value of the finished product.
Goel said that of the 60 percent, non-semiconductor components make up 40 percent of the product value and 20 percent are semiconductors.
The government has introduced the India Semiconductor Program under which it has sanctioned investments worth Rs 1.52 lakh crore so far.
Goel said support for non-semiconductor components will create 50 lakh jobs by 2030 as the industry is labor intensive.
“We expect that the support of the non-semiconductor component sector will be able to attract an additional investment of USD 36 billion by 2030,” he said.
According to Elcina, the production of non-semiconductor components in India was about USD 13 billion in 2022 which is expected to reach about USD 20.7 billion in 2026 and about USD 37 billion in 2030 if business continues as usual thus leading at a deficit of USD 248. billion in the sector over the next six years.
