India still depends China for electronics, smartphone components

Despite India promoting domestic production of electronics, a large number of electronics and smartphone components are still imported from China.

Of the total import, 37% of electronic components and 45% smartphone components were imported from China in the last financial year, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Sanjay Dhotre informed Rajya Sabha.

Replying to BJP member K C Ramamurthy, he said, "As per the data available from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), of the total Rs 1,15,558 crore electronic component imports in 2019-20, the import from China was Rs 42,983 crore, which amounts to about 37%."

Of the total Rs 56,039 crore worth of smartphone components import in 2019-20, Rs 25,441 crore, which amounts to about 45%, imported from China.

The shutdown of factories for about two months has impacted the domestic electronics manufacturing sector. According to the India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA), there will be production loss of 20-25% in 2020-21, compared to 2019-20, the Minister said.

"Steps are being taken to broad-base the sources of electronic components / raw material imports in India while promoting domestic electronics production at the same time, in order to reduce dependency on a single market/geographical region, so that any sudden/abrupt/unforeseen event such as the Covid-19 outbreak in China does not cause a large-scale shortage of inventory in the domestic market," he said.

To promote domestic electronics manufacturing, Ministry of Electronics snd Information Technology (MeitY) has launched three new schemes, viz., Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing, Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme, on April 1, 2020, to attract and incentivize large investments in the electronics value chain and promote domestic value addition and exports.

"Alternate supply lines are also being explored in coordination with Indian Embassies, Industry Associations and domestic Industry. Electronics industry is also being encouraged to take
advantage of the aforementioned new schemes to strengthen the domestic electronics sector," the Minister said.