Govt Clears 17 ECMS Projects Worth INR 7,172 Cr; Aequs, Zetwerk Bag Key Approvals

A couple of weeks after clearing the first batch of seven projects under the Electronic Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), the Centre has now cleared 17 more approvals under the scheme worth INR 7,172 Cr. The list of newly approved projects features bids floated by new-age tech companies like Aequs, Zetwork as well as Apple vendor Jabil. 

The newly approved projects cover a broad range of components critical to devices across smartphones, IT hardware, wearables, telecom equipment, electric vehicles, medical systems and industrial machinery. The latest approvals span nine states, including Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, among others.

Key Projects Approved Today

• Enclosures for laptops and smartwatches by Aequs. This project refers to the manufacturing of outer casing or housing that protects and holds the internal components of the aforementioned devices.
• Zetwerk (via its affiliate entity Zetchem Supply Chain Services) and Apple vendor Jabil (via Jabil Circuit Pvt Ltd) got clearance to build India’s first-ever Optical Transceiver (SFP) manufacturing facilities.
• Nine companies, including Zetwerk (Zetfab India Pvt Ltd), Infopower Technologies, Ehoome IOT, Sierra Circuits and Secure Circuits, received approval to set up multi-layer PCBs manufacturing units.
• Camera Modules production projects by ASUX Safety Components, Uno Minda and Syrma Mobility, were also approved.
• Connectors for electronic applications by TE Connectivity.
• Rakon India’s  project to build oscillators for precise timing applications was also approved. 

The new approvals are expected to reduce India’s reliance on imports for critical electronic products and emerge as a global manufacturing hub. 

A Brief Background of ECMS

Cleared by the Union Cabinet in March and formally notified in April, the ECMS seeks to build a $500 Bn domestic electronics component manufacturing ecosystem by FY32.

With a six-year tenure and a one-year gestation period, the scheme will extend a mix of fiscal incentives — including turnover-linked support, capex-linked benefits, and hybrid incentives combining the two.

Prior to this, five projects worth INR 5,500 Cr from companies like Kaynes Circuits India, SRF, Syrma Strategic Electronics and Ascent Circuits were approved under the scheme to indigenously produce key components, such as printed circuit boards (PCBs), camera modules, laminates and polypropylene films.

Together, the approved projects span across the country with a cumulative projected production of INR 65,111 Cr and creation of 11,808 direct employment opportunities. The two rounds pushed estimated cumulative output from the approved units to over INR 1 Lakh Cr and the total direct jobs to nearly 17,000. 

The government has received 249 applications under the scheme so far, with companies proposing investment of INR 1.15 Lakh Cr, nearly double the original target of INR 59,350 Cr. 

Applicants have submitted production estimates worth INR 10.34 Lakh Cr, more than twice the government’s projection of INR 4.5 Lakh Cr. The Ministry expects the scheme to support 1.41 Lakh direct jobs, exceeding the original target of 91,600. Incentive outgo is now estimated at INR 41,468 Cr, up from the earlier projection of INR 22,805 Cr. 

India Launches First Energy-Efficient Edge SoC

Besides approving the aforementioned ECMS projects, Union Minister for MeitY Ashwin Vaishnaw also launched the first generation energy-efficient edge silicon chip (SoC) (ARKA-GKT1), jointly developed by Cyient and custom silicon products startup Azimuth AI. 

“The Platform-on-a-Chip SoC integrates advanced computing cores, hardware accelerators, power-efficient design, and secure sensing into a single chip, delivering up to 10x better performance while reducing cost and complexity,” the ministry said.

This marks the first major milestone for engineering services provider Cyient, which officially entered the semiconductor space with a new subsidiary earlier this year.

In April, the company’s board had approved an investment of $100 Mn (a little over INR 860 Cr) in the subsidiary to develop fabless semiconductor solutions, focusing on areas like power management. 

On the other hand, Azimuth, founded in 2022 by Praveen Yasarapu and Sridevi Badiga, is developing highly differentiated SoC products for Embedded Computing applications.