New Delhi

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said India's electronics manufacturing ecosystem has deepened significantly, moving beyond finished products and modules into components and, increasingly, materials, with several categories now at or near full self-reliance (Atmanirbharta).

Addressing the industry at the 5th tranche of approval of Electronic Components Manufacturing schemes (ECMS), Vaishnaw said the country has achieved 100% domestic capability in enclosures, relays and optical transceivers, and is now exporting products in these categories, including exports to China in printed circuit boards (PCBs). He said India also meets 75% of its optical connector demand, 60% of lithium-ion cell demand, 80% of laminate demand, and 55% of transducer demand domestically, while permanent magnets for electronics applications have reached 40% self-sufficiency and capacitors 20%.

"I'm happy to share with you that now, in enclosures, we have become fully Atmanirbhar. 100% of our demand will be met. In PCBs, we have started exporting to China. So it's good. I'm so glad one of the participants was so proudly sharing that the biggest market is China. That's the thing which has to come from many of you in the coming years. In lithium-ion cells, we are now 60% Atmanirbhar. Again, a very big achievement for an industry where we had practically no domestic manufacturing. Now, 60% of our demand we can meet ourselves. For laminates, 80% of our demand we can meet ourselves, and with the expansion which is going on, I think we will very soon become fully Atmanirbhar for laminates also. For anode material, we have become fully Atmanirbhar. Now we have started exporting the anode material. For optical transceivers, we have become fully Atmanirbhar. We are now exporting the optical transceivers. For connectors, we are at 75% of our entire demand. Capacitors: 20% of our demand," he said.

The minister said two companies received approval on Monday for domestic capital equipment manufacturing, and urged industry associations to hold dedicated workshops on scaling up capital goods production, calling it the "next frontier" after components and materials.

Citing government data, Vaishnaw noted that of 106 approved projects under the sector's incentive push, 38 have begun manufacturing and 16 are under construction, generating over 74,000 direct jobs and an estimated 2.5 lakh indirect jobs.

He reiterated four priorities he said the industry must urgently address. He urged the industry to build design capabilities, building in-house or specialised design capacity, which he said remains inadequate despite recent progress.

The minister said that Complete indigenous supply chains are his second ask, tracing every component down to sub-components and shifting maximum value chain activity to India.

His third task from industry is Six Sigma quality and lean manufacturing, which he linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a national quality culture.

Workforce and talent development, which Vaishnaw said now rivals capital equipment as a critical bottleneck, calling for a tenfold increase in structured training efforts.

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"Long way to go, but let's keep going at a pace faster than this," Vaishnaw said, urging associations to collaborate on structured programmes to close the talent gap.