Govt Seeks Suggestions For Tapping Electronics Makers To Design More In India

The government has started reaching out to companies and industry groups for suggestions in formulating policies which will encourage electronics manufacturers, like Apple to start designing more in India.

As per ET’s report, citing senior government officials, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has already had a few meetings with trade associations like the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), whose members include the likes of Apple, Vivo and OPPO and other major global electronics companies.

Besides, the IT ministry has also reached out to a few Indian Institutes of Technology to conduct a potential feasibility study on this.

The goal is to identify what components of the electronics supply chain can be designed and produced in India as well as the next steps to boost local value addition across the board, said the report. 

Another government official told ET that the government wants to guarantee that India owns the intellectual property of these ideas, excluding those in the semiconductor and chip industries.

In March, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said that India has turned 97% self-sufficient in mobile phones compared to being 78% import-dependent in 2014. 

Moreover, electronics manufacturers like Apple, Oppo, and Samsung have also increased production in India. 

Tech major Apple manufactured iPhones worth INR 1 Lakh Cr in India in 2023. It also plans to ramp up production by more than five times from the current levels to around $40 Bn by 2027.

Meanwhile, Google, recently revealed its plans to manufacture Pixel smartphones in India.

In February this year, Samsung also unveils its semiconductor R&D unit in India’s Bengaluru city. It previously shifted its laptop manufacturing base to India to reduce import dependence. 

It was also reported in January that the union government is reportedly mulling a proposal for slashing import duties on high-end smartphone components. 

Earlier this year, ICEA released a seven-country study which showed that India imposes the highest tariffs on input components. 

The study pointed out that India’s average import tariffs stand at 8.5%, much higher than China’s 3.7%.

However, the Indian government has been actively promoting local manufacturing and value addition in the country through initiatives such as Make in India and production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes.