Sibal pushes for FDI in electronics manufacturing

Kapil Sibal is hard selling India as a destination for investment in electronics manufacturing. The union communications and information technology minister met ambassadors and heads of chambers of commerce of countries that are leaders in the electronics sector today.

Sibal shared the new policy initiatives launched by the government to promote investment in the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector. US, UK, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Israel, Korea, Japan, Taiwan were represented. Presented at the meeting were J Satyanarayana, secretary, department of electronics and IT; M Farooqui, secretary, department of telecommunications; Ajai Chowdhry, former HCL Infosystems chairman, and other officials, a media report issued by the government of India stated.

"By and large, we had positive responses from all the representatives, and they all want to invest in India, which will also generate many jobs for our people," Sibal told reporters.

Satyanarayana mentioned that the government of India is giving special attention to the promotion of electronics manufacturing in India. The sector has potential to attract investment of nearly $100 bn over the next decade. Government permits 100% FDI through the automatic route for electronics manufacturing. It is with this objective that the Cabinet has approved the National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2012, the report further states.

Farqooui explained the recent policy initiatives under the National Telecom Policy, which also encourages investment in manufacturing R&D in the telecom equipment. 

Sibal invited these countries to send trade delegations in the electronics sector so that they can get familiar with the new opportunities in the sector and to participate in leading industrial events in the country. He also requested the Ambassadors to identify a nodal officer in their embassies in India to deal with enquiries relating to the electronics sector. He also assured that if there is adequate interest, Department of Electronics and IT would set up country-specific Desks to address investment issues relating to those countries. One such Desk has already been set up for Japan.

Sibal offered to set up Electronic Manufacturing Cluster which could provide specific social amenities for Korea, Japan and Taiwan, apart from providing industry specific infrastructure. He also emphasized the need for collaboration in R&D and innovation in the field of electronics to develop products which would be customized to the needs of common man. He particularly emphasized the need for developing products in the area of medical electronics, education, green energy and financial inclusion.