Electronics industry body seeks PLI scheme for non-semicondcutor sectors

Electronics industry body ELCINA has requested the government to come up with a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for non-semiconductor or computer chips sector, which is dominated by imports, a senior official of the organisation said.

According to Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA) report, total electronic component market in the country was estimated to be around $39 billion, of which 68% requirement was met through imports in 2021-22.

While speaking at 48th ELCINA Award Ceremony, organisation's new President Atul B Lall said that the government's scheme for devices has been hugely successful and the incentive scheme for semiconductor sector is seeing a lot of traction and some investments have started flowing in.

"Our humble submission and perseverance is going to be to do the same for non-semiconductor component sector also. For which we request government's intervention," said Lall, who is the Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Dixon Technologies.

ELCINA, one of the oldest electronics industry body in the country, was established in 1967.

According to the industry body, mobile phones, consumer electronics and industrial electronics account for the major demand (85%) for electronic components in India. This is followed by computer hardware.

ELCINA said that strategic electronics and lighting industry contribute to the balance of the market and industries like mobile phones, industrial electronics (due to the advent of electric vehicles) and strategic electronics are expected to witness substantial growth in the near future.

Lall said there is a need for separate PLI scheme for non-semicondcutor components due to large variation in the market for these components.

"We can't treat this sector with one-size-fits-all kind of approach. Each sector has different financial market. It requires different treatment. We will be approaching government for its intervention," Lall said.

He said that the country needs some flag bearers like Apple in the mobile devices segment, and 40 years ago beginning of Maruti Suzuki led to auto-revolution in India.

"Same in the non-semiconductor space also, we need some very large investments," Lall said.

The government has implemented "the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors" (SPECS) to help offset the disability for domestic manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductors in order to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

After SPECS, the government separately announced India Semicon Programme with incentives to the tune of Rs 76,000 crore to attract investment in the computer chip segment.

Under India Semicon Programme, US-based computer memory chip maker Micron has started building its assembly and test plant in Gujarat and two more large proposals are under pipeline.