IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to meet leaders of electronics industry on 19 August

New Delhi: IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will meet CEOs of electronics companies on Monday next week to discuss the industry’s concerns and deliberate on measures to boost sectoral growth and improve export prospects. An official privy to the development said that the IT Ministry has called the industry’s top brass, including heads of companies like Apple, Samsung, Flextronics, Foxconn, Dell, Ericsson, Intel and others, for the ensuing meeting. In all, nearly 50 companies have been asked to participate in the discussions that would be geared to promote policy environment for the sector and improve prospects of exports. In addition, industry associations like Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA), and India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) are also expected to participate in the talks. [caption id=“attachment_4721051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. PTI[/caption] The government has come out with a national policy on electronics that aims to promote domestic manufacturing and exports in the entire value chain to acheive a turnover of $00 billion (around Rs 28.43 lakh crore) by 2025. The roundtable with electronics majors will focus on understanding industry’s concerns, discuss suggestions to ensure conducive policy environment for the electronics industry to flourish in India, the official said. Earlier this year, the Cabinet approved a new electronics policy which aims to create a $400 billion (around Rs 28.43 lakh crore) electronic manufacturing ecosystem by 2025 and generate one crore jobs in the country. The National Electronics Policy 2019 proposes to boost mobile manufacturing in the country to 1 billion units worth $190 billion (about Rs 13 lakh crore) of which 600 million units worth $110 billion (about Rs 7 lakh crore) will be exported from the country. Under the policy, the government also aims to push the manufacturing of strategic electronics required by the defence and other strategic sectors in the country. Last month, a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had said that India’s mobile manufacturing lacks scale and depth despite its ambition to become global production hub, and the country now needs to “think big” by manufacturing at scale, producing high-end phones, and incentivising exports. The report, titled `Make in India 2.0 (Revisiting Mobile Manufacturing)’ had said the global handsets market is worth about $467 billion (about Rs 32 lakh crore), and this demand is being met almost entirely by China, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan.