Rs 23K cr Electronics Manufacturing Scheme Notified in 3 Weeks: Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) The government is likely to notify Rs 22,919 crore electronics manufacturing scheme within three weeks, Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

The Union Cabinet has approved the country's first-ever electronics components manufacturing scheme, focusing on indigenous manufacturing of passive or non-semiconductor components.

"The scheme will be notified within three weeks," Vaishnaw told reporters.

The minister said that the scheme is expected to attract investment of Rs 59,350 crore, resulting in the production of electronic components worth over Rs 4.5 lakh crore and generate additional direct employment of 91,600 persons and many indirect jobs during its tenure.

The scheme is spread over a period of six years with three incentive components -- employment, capital requirement and turnover of the companies.

"The companies which will achieve a threshold on employment will be getting incentives. There are certain items where a lot of capex is required and the turnover is not much. There we will provide capital support and of course, there will be a turnover-based incentive," Vaishnaw said.

Through the scheme, the government is looking to have a change in the mindset of companies to export-led growth to become a major supplier of many of the electronic components, he noted.

Vaishnaw said the electronics manufacturing sector has grown 5 times in the last 10 years to Rs 10 lakh crore, providing employment to about 25 lakh people.

Exports have grown six times in the last 10 years to Rs 2.5 lakh crore and are expected to double in the next 4 years, the minister said.

"The Prime Minister's vision is to deepen value addition, and supply chain, have more design capabilities and make sure that a large number of passive components which go into electronic goods are manufactured in India," Vaishnaw said.

The government has already covered active components like semiconductors under the India Semiconductor Mission.

"Now, this component manufacturing scheme, which is being done for the first time in our country, will be covering passive components," the minister said.

The scheme will cover components like display module sub-assembly, electro-mechanicals for electronic applications, multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB), enclosures for mobile, IT Hardware products and related devices, and lithium-ion cells for digital applications.

According to electronics component makers body Elcina, non-semiconductor components production in India was around USD 13 billion in 2022, which is projected to reach around USD 20.7 billion by 2026 and around USD 37 billion by 2030 if the business continues as usual, thereby leading a deficit of USD 248 billion in the segment over the next six years. The deficit is met through imports.

Elcina had sought a USD 8.57 billion (about Rs 72,500 crore) support package to reduce the deficit by Rs 12.36 lakh crore in the next six years.

Electronic Industries Association of India (Elcina) estimates that the deficit in the segment can increase to USD 248 billion (about Rs 21 lakh crore) by 2030 in the absence of government support for local production.

The country's oldest technology industry body projects that the government's support could help reduce the deficit in the passive component segment by USD 146 billion (Rs 12.36 lakh crore) to USD 102 billion (Rs 8.63 lakh crore).