Make in India – IT & Electronics Seminar organized in Shanghai on March 21, 2018

Consulate General of India in Shanghai organized Make in India – IT & Electronics Seminar on 21 March 2018 to promote brand India and to attract investments in India in the IT & Electronics sector. The event was attended by a delegation from Government of India led by Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) and delegates from World Electronic Circuits Council (WECC), Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA), Indian Printed Circuit Association (IPCA).

2. Consul General, in his welcome address, highlighted the opportunities available for the Chinese companies under flagship programmes of Government of India like ‘Make in India’, ‘Startup India’ and ‘Digital India’ and underscored that recent reforms undertaken by the Government of India had improved India’s ranking in ‘Ease of Doing Business’. He also mentioned that India had now emerged as one of the most open economies in the world for receiving foreign direct investments (FDI), on the back of a host of liberalization measures undertaken recently by the Government. He invited Chinese companies to invest in India taking advantage of favourable policy regime, relatively lower wages, special investment privileges such as tax exemptions, and robust business environment.

3. Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Government of India, in his keynote address highlighted the opportunities in the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) sector. He stated that Total Demand for PCBs in India in 2017 was estimated at around US$ 2.4 Bn, of which only US$ 400 Million is manufactured locally and balance is being imported either as bare PCB or in the form of assembled Boards. He added that as per the recent Industry Report published by ELCINA, PCB demand will grow to US$ 10 Billion by 2022. He further mentioned that the policy framework was now shifting in favour of manufacturing in India. He also added upon the other opportunities in the field of IT and electronics and underscored that major initiatives have been taken including Make in India, Digital India, Solar Power Mission, Mission for energy efficiency lighting, promotion of electric vehicles, Bharat Net for Internet connectivity across the country, all of which would drive demand for electronics and boost the derived demand for electronics and IT in India.

4. In the Q&A session that followed, the queries of the participants regarding the favourable policies of the Government regarding manufacturing in India were enumerated by Secretary, MEITY. The participants expressed willingness to explore possible opportunities of investments in India.

5. Earlier, the Indian delegation led by Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) had visited the manufacturing facility of iPhone in Kunshan near Shanghai, and also attended the China Printed Circuit Association (CPCA) Expo at National Exhibition and Convention Centre in Shanghai.

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