Aatmanirbhar India - Manufacturing locally

Dr. Raj Kumar Upadhyay, Executive Director, C-DoT, delivered a keynote address at the TLF 2022. He focused on the concept of becoming Aatmanirbhar or self-reliant

“Our Hon. Prime Minister’s clarion call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat has witnessed unprecedented enthusiasm and energy from the Telecom ecosystem to make India self-reliant,” Dr. Upadhyay said. “Undoubtedly, the road to Aatmanirbhar Bharat is long and arduous. And this calls for a concerted effort and perseverance from all of us.” He gave two reasons why India should become self-reliant in the telecom/ electronics segment. The first reason is economic, and the second reason is strategic.

“The demand for telecom equipment and electronics in this country is massively increasing over the years. As per government estimates, this will go to USD 300 billion by 2024-25.”

The demand for telecom equipment and electronics in this country is massively increasing over the years. As per government estimates, this will go to USD 300 billion by 2024-25.

Because of this imports were increasing, “Exports are growing, but imports are growing faster in this country,” said Dr. Upadhyay. “There has been considerable growth in indigenous manufacturing of electronic equipment and mobile phones. “Our exports have increased from 0.2 billion$ in 2018 to 1.7 billion$ in 2021,” said Dr. Upadhyay.

He touched upon the country’s trade deficit. “The trade deficit in the electronics segment alone, which covers telecom equipment is approximately $50 billion. So, if we start manufacturing locally, some of this trade deficit can be reduced”

Dr. Upadhyay also talked about the multiplier effect of local manufacturing -- on jobs, better opportunities, the economy, and benefits to other industries as well.

Local manufacturing also had a strategic aspect. “Security is of paramount importance and with the increasingly complex networks of today – 5G, software-defined, new applications – many areas of national security can be protected using our own designed and manufactured equipment,” he said. “Therefore, Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not only an economic consideration but strategic consideration as well.”

He also referred to the initiatives by the Government to boost local manufacturing. “Government of India has been taking various initiatives to boost indigenous manufacturing, including for R&D, for support through incentive schemes for making locally, MSMEs and Startup schemes.”

The Production linked Incentive (PLI), and the recently announced Design Linked Incentive (DLI) schemes were also helping in the local manufacturing. “PLI is a tailor-made scheme to promote manufacturing in this country. The government has put around 12,195 crores for incentivizing manufacturing.”

About the DLI scheme, Dr. Upadhyay said: “Today 50% of the global manufacturing happens in China, but then there are other firms like Qualcomm and Broadcom, that are fabless companies. A lot of money from the value chain is going to them too. We as a country also need to invest in the design part. Design Led Incentive or DLI scheme was announced. The government also came up with the semiconductor policy wherein Rs 76,000 crore was allocated for supporting and investing to help the semiconductor ecosystem.”

“Under DLI, the Government has said it will invest in making the infrastructure for semiconductors in this country and will promote both semiconductor design as well as the display ecosystem in this country. I’m sure this is going to usher in a new era in electronic manufacturing and definitely it is going to pave the way for India’s technological leadership in these areas of strategic importance and economic self-reliance.”

Government of India has been taking various initiatives to boost indigenous manufacturing, including for R&D, for support through incentive schemes for making locally, MSMEs and Startup schemes.

The DLI scheme is aimed at helping different stages of development of semiconductor design, integrated circuits, chips, SOCs, IP code, semiconductor link design, etc.

He also spoke of the support from the Universal Services Obligation Fund. There is a plan to use 5% of the USO fund to promote R&D. This has already been announced in the budget and translates to around Rs 500 crore per annum. To be distributed for R&D to the industry.

Industry partners need to come forward and collaborate with the Government to develop and design for India, manufacture here for domestic consumption as well as for the rest of the world.