Govt to notify five electronics manufacturing clusters by Feb

The government has set a target to notify five clusters for manufacturing electronic products by February in its bid to cut import dependence of such items.  Each of these clusters, which will house the eco-system required for manufacturing specific kinds of devices, will also get financial support of up to Rs 50 crore from the government.  The plan to notify five electronics manufacturing clusters is part of three-month agenda finalised by Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal with Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY).  Each of these clusters will get support of up to Rs 50 crore from government.  Confirming these information, DEITY Joint Secretary Ajay Kumar said: “There are proposals from industry associations for setting up clusters. We have to verify them which will take some time. The target is to notify five clusters within next three months.”  The government on 3rd July approved the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster scheme which aims to reduce the country’s dependence on imports for various electronics items.  The country imports electronics items worth about USD 40 billion at present, according to Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA).  The National Electronics Policy draft forecasts such imports to touch a whopping USD 300 billion by 2020.  ELCINA, which has announced its plan to set-up cluster, said the association is waiting for guidelines for setting up clusters before it starts working on the identified clusters.  “The scheme has been notified but we are waiting for final guidelines,” ELCINA Secretary General Rajoo Goel said.  He said the interest from investors for these proposed clusters has also increased.  “Earlier, member groups of 15-20 companies had confirmed their interest for these model clusters but now there are around 25-30 companies,” Goel said.