Electronics industry needs to share production data for policy making: MeitY official

The government has access to import and export data but wants the electronics industry to share production statistics for policy formulation, a MeitY official said on Friday.

The government has been sharing electronics production data in the country based on estimates of industry bodies, especially the India Electronics and Cellular Association.

"We don't have any kinds of production data. That's very important. When we formulate policy, we need to know how much we are producing and what we are producing. So that we actually know the exact figure. We have DGIS, where we can get import data and export data. Industry has to support the government by sharing the data," MeitY Scientists G and Group Coordinator Asha Nangia said.

She was speaking at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) on Building a Resilient Supply Chain for the Electronics and Semiconductor Industry.

According to ICEA, mobile phone production has increased around 18.5 times from ₹18,900 crore in 2014-15 to ₹3,50,000 crore in 2022-23, and exports of mobile phones have grown by about 57.5 times from ₹1,566 crore in 2014-15 to ₹90,000 crore in 2022-23.

Nangia said that based on the information available, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has been promoting all kinds of manufacturing.

"Now, we are discussing a new scheme to support manufacturing of electronic components in the country," Nangia said.

She said that neither all components are being made in India nor all will be made, but there is a need to develop a resilient supply chain to protect the manufacturing ecosystem in case of war, pandemic, or any other geopolitical situation.