India Shifts Electronics Focus to Domestic Component Manufacturing

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, announced that India is transitioning its electronics sector from assembling finished products to developing domestic supply chains for materials, components, and capital equipment. This shift follows a period of significant growth under the Make in India initiative, with electronics production reaching 116 billion dollars in FY26 and exports hitting 48 billion dollars.

Mobile phones have emerged as the country's largest exported item, propelling the sector to the third position in merchandise exports. To sustain this momentum, the Government of India implemented the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, which has approved projects exceeding 69,000 crore, surpassing the original 59,000 crore target. These projects involve 106 companies and are projected to create approximately 2.5 lakh jobs.

Vaishnaw stated that the next phase of development must prioritize scale and quality, specifically focusing on six-sigma quality and competitive costs to ensure Indian components are preferred globally.