India methodically building own electronics capabilities: Ashwini Vaishnav

India is developing “its own capabilities” in electronics manufacturing in a “very methodical and sustained way” and is poised to achieve its value-addition target of 38% within the next five years, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister for electronics and IT, railways and information and broadcasting.

Currently, China’s value addition stands at about 38%. The minister was responding to queries on reports of Apple’s key supplier Foxconn repatriating about 300 Chinese engineers from its factories in India.

“De-risking is learning the skills and making it here and developing our own supply chain, which is what we are doing,” he said at an ET Roundtable in New Delhi on Thursday.

Support is coming to the electronics manufacturing ecosystem from countries such as Taiwan, the US and South Korea along with the country’s own engineers, he said, downplaying dependence on China and its technical personnel.

‘Open to Legal Reforms for Social Media’
Vaishnaw said countries are moving toward making social media more responsible for content, responding to whether regulation is needed to rein in misinformation. India is trying to build a political consensus on the issue and will be open to changing its legal framework if required, he said.

India has significantly expanded its mobile manufacturing ecosystem and is now building its semiconductor capabilities through the Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission and the Rs 23,000 crore components incentive programme announced earlier this year. India’s electronics manufacturing is worth about $145 billion and that’s increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%, he said. “We know that there will be challenges in every growth path, but we have the confidence that we will be able to sustain our growth,” the minister said.

As per a Bloomberg report, Foxconn has recalled over 300 Chinese engineers and technicians from its Indian iPhone production facilities, reportedly due to Chinese government directives aimed at curbing technology and talent outflow. This is expected to create operational hurdles for Foxconn, potentially impacting the efficiency of assembly lines and delaying the training of local Indian workers as Apple scales its iPhone production in India. While the report said that the talent gap is being offset by Taiwanese staff, the move underscores the challenges Foxconn faces in diversifying its supply chain amid current geopolitical tensions. The highest value addition in any one country (China) is 38% and India has already crossed 20% within a time frame of six to seven years. “We are on a clear path to crossing 30% in the coming two to three years, and reaching 38% within the next five years is a very reasonable target,” he said.

The Tata Electronics chip assembly plant in Assam will service telecom manufacturers globally, Micron unit in Gujarat will be supplying memory chips, while power electronics will come from the CG plant, also in Gujarat, he said.

India has to be self-reliant in every domain to safeguard itself from geopolitical upheaval. “We have to get into every machine, every component,” he said. “We must go into every part of it and start manufacturing them.”