Electronics is a horizontal, embedded through every vertical

During the Dataquest Leadership Conclave held at New Delhi’s Hyatt Regency on June 8, there was a fireside chat on “Connecting the dots to take electronics to the next level”. The participants were Hari Om Rai, MD, Lava, and Vinod Sharma, MD, Deki Electronics.

Hari Om Rai, Lava, said that we need to acquire skills for technology. We are going to be competitive in the future. The moment we acquire skills, we will be the most competitive.

Vinod Sharma, Deki Electronics, said that we need to sort out various issues. We cannot import all of the electronics required for the country. Electronics is a horizontal, embedded through every vertical. Today, it is more true, due to the geopolitical issues.

We are getting electronic components from China. We did not understand the importance of the industry earlier. We are now starting to come back. We now need to build electronics. We have successfully brought back assembly to the country. We have put a lot of money where our mouth is. PLI is very outcome-oriented. We need to do more about manufacturing, especially, deep down. It is our duty to think about all this, and put in some foundation.

Are these PLI schemes enough? Hari Om Rai, Lava, said the PLI scheme came into the mobile sector first. We have progressed backward at a slower pace. India has to export everything, along with electronics. It all boils down to the industry. They have not guided the government properly.

Vinod Sharma, Deki Electronics, added that China is able to give many subsidies and incentives. We have to take the industry further. On PLIs, it is necessary, but not sufficient. People are committing large investments across sectors. PLI is a big boy's game, with large companies. We need to bring in PLIs for MSMEs. Their strong point is employment. 70% of jobs are casual. PLI is not the only answer. It is mitigating some disabilities. This is a bus that we cannot afford to miss.

Sunil Rajguru, Editor, Dataquest, PCQuest and CiOL, was the moderator. The theme of the conclave was Let’s Transform at Scale with NeXtGen Tech and featured the 29th ICT Business Awards show.