The Government has reached out to eminent persons of Indian origin (PIOs) to put together a possible ‘board of global advisors’ that could help in developing the electronics sector in India, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The electronics manufacturing industry has not taken off in the country, primarily due to a lack of a strong base and the failure to build a strong ecosystem.
The country’s demand for electronics is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020, with imports accounting for nearly $300 billion of that amount.
The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), therefore, is reaching out to Indian-origin persons who could help by contributing their knowledge, experience and expertise.
As an initiation of this association, the DeitY intends to constitute an ongoing mechanism to formalise this association as a possible board of global advisors, according to sources.
“It has now gotten to a point where even sustaining growth trends in the IT and telecom industries is dependent on the ability to foster electronics design and manufacturing in the country,” said a renowned Indian-American computer scientist, who was contacted by the DeitY but did not wish to be named.
Several eminent Indian-origin scientists and entrepreneurs have, therefore, been asked to submit several proposals and ideas on what can be done to encourage an ecosystem for electronics manufacturing in the country.
This new group of advisers is a logical culmination of the Centre’s intention to remove all barriers towards encouraging electronics manufacturing, according to sources.
The National Policy of Electronics in 2012 set out a vision to create a globally-competitive electronics design and manufacturing industry, and the first practical step in this direction was the recent ‘in-principle’ decision to support the setting up of two semi-conductor wafer fabs.
The move to now have Indian-origin persons to partner with India is designed to bolster the Government’s other actions.
