NEW DELHI: More than 50 multi-national companies as well as Indian business houses had come forward with proposals to set up manufacturing units for electronic goods including set top boxes after the government announced relaxations to promote the ‘Make in India’ policy.
Taking part in the section on Electronic Manufacturing at the Times Television’s Digital Summit here, Communications and Information Technology joint secretary Ajay Kumar said that the whole process will mean recreating the IT industry and changing the eco-system as Indians had got used to importing cheap equipment from overseas.
However, he said that the IT industry was on the verge of ‘explosive growth’ because it had huge brain power, demographic profile, and a government determined to promote the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ programmes.
Kumar claimed that the government was giving several incentives including a 25 per cent incentive in the manufacturing sector for electronic goods. Training programmes had been created for in-house human resources and there was focus on innovation and research and development.
However, Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) vice president Nitin Kunkdienker said, “The government’s policies are still not helpful to the growth of the sector. A mere announcement of a national policy is not enough if states do not encourage to collaborate on various issues.”
He said even the central ministries did not talk to each other, referring specifically to the IT Ministry, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry.
In many states, the Chief Ministers had no control over the affairs relating to the industry. There was also need for process improvement such as customs etc. and the government should be able to optimize its advantages. It should also bring in the educational institutions on the programmes to create a system that sets standards.
Amar Babu R K of Lenovo referred to a general mistrust between the government and the industry.
