Proposals for setting up new electronic manufacturing clusters will be invited shortly from the States under the Modified EMC 2.0 Scheme, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said on Friday.
The new scheme will become operational soon, he said after IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao highlighted the need for the Centre to sanction new EMCs at the earliest as the few such existing facilities in the State were fast running out of space.
Stating that he had also written to the Union IT Minister on the issue, Mr.Rao underscored the need to also encourage more product companies, particularly in the context of the window of opportunity for accelerate the digital transformation that COVID-19 provided.
Even while pointing to how the States can do more in terms of reinventing governance by adopting more digital strategies, the Minister said the Centre should also consider States to have their own satellites to promote online education. Mr.Rao, Mr.Sawhney, Telangana IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, STPI Director General Omkar Rai and industry leaders were participating in a virtual conference on ‘Digital Revolution in Post Covid Era: Touching Lives and Enriching Businesses’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Digital revolution, the Minister said, can only be possible if digital or even non-digital solutions can be accessed by common man. Enabling common man with the help of technology will make him believe in technology and create a social impact. Digital literacy, digital innovation and digital infrastructure, the last of the three as a basic right such as access to electricity and clean water, ought to be cornerstones for the transformation, he said.
Mr. Sawhney said under the Modified EMC 2.0 Scheme the emphasis will be on making the companies, to whom land is allotted in the cluster, to start operations within a reasonable time. Towards this, an Anchor Client model will be pursued.
According to a Central government notification, under the new scheme EMCs would be established to create infrastructure with common facilities and amenities in EMC projects and upgrade the infrastructure in industrial estates/parks,areas as Common Facility Centre (CFC) for attracting investment in electronics manufacturing. Financial assistance will be given for setting up both EMCs and CFCs. The anchor unit/s will be into electronics manufacturing with a commitment of purchasing minimum 20% of the saleable or leasable land area in the project and give a commitment of an investment of ₹300 crore and more.
Mr. Jayesh Ranjan told The Hindu that while the scheme had been notified, the guidelines are awaited. He told the CII conference how Telangana had made big strides in adopting technology. Noting that the pandemic has provided a big push to the digital transformation in the country, he said the Centre should relax its funding norms for dedicated broadband network project in the State.
