India shifts from assembly to deep manufacturing as semiconductor push accelerates: CII's Vinod Sharma

New Delhi [India], December 4 (ANI): India's electronics and semiconductor ambitions have entered a crucial second phase, moving beyond assembly to high-value manufacturing and materials research, Vinod Sharma, Chairman of CII's National Committee on Electronics Manufacturing and Managing Director of Deki Electronics told ANI today.

Sharma said India's electronics journey resembles a relay race. "We are actually in the second leg of our 4 x 400 meter relay race as I like to call it."

He said that the first phase was defined by assembly growth supported by the Production-Linked Incentive scheme. "The first leg was assembly and the PLI, especially the PLI for large scale electronics did very well. We are now coming to a sunset of that PLI."

Sharma praised the government for sustained policy support. "We are very happy to note now that the government has fully supported the industry both through ISM 1.0 and then through SPECS, which is now converted into another policy called ECMS," he said, referring to the Electronic Component Manufacturing Scheme.

The new ECMS scheme has seen stronger-than-expected investor enthusiasm. "The government has received under the scheme almost twice the amount of investments that they were expecting in the scheme," Sharma said.

He added that this surge was "a very big compliment to the government, to the scheme, to the timing of what was done and overall the interest that the world has in what's happening in the electronics manufacturing in India."

Approvals are now progressing at a rapid pace. Sharma said MeitY is "trying to clear about eight to ten approvals every week."

The second tranche of approvals is already out, and he added, "I hope that the third one will soon be announced."

He pointed to global geopolitical tensions as a catalyst for India's deeper push into materials and component ecosystems. "The Chinese policy of weaponizing some of these key supply chain material, including the rare earth has basically triggered us to now take steps which will make us an Atmanirbhar Bharat," he said.

While welcoming the government's ₹7,600 crore rare-earth initiative, Sharma stressed that such capability-building is gradual. "But obviously that takes time -- mining, refining, finally the application," he said. He added that India is "now looking at many other metals, not just rare earths," and that ECMS places "equal emphasis on building the material for those components."

Looking ahead, Sharma said industry is awaiting the government's major R&D initiative. "We are also now waiting for the research and development innovation scheme, RDI, of one lakh crore," he said. At the CII India Edge forum, the sector will urge the government "to allocate some of our money there for material research for electronic components and semiconductors." (ANI)

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