7-Dec-2022: Under National Technical Textiles Mission, 74 research projects of value of   Rs.232 cr. approved

The Union Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that under the National Technical Textiles Mission, so far 74 research projects of value of   Rs.232 cr. in the areas of speciality fibres and technical textiles by premier Research Institutes and Research Organisations of the country in association with industry as partners undertaking research projects have been approved. Amongst them, 32 projects of specialty fibres and 9 projects of geotextiles worth Rs.111.92 crore and Rs.19.09 crore respectively are being undertaken under National Technical Textiles Mission.

Smart Textiles are a new generation niche product. Smart Textiles products are a combination of varieties of wearable materials embedded with electronics. To encourage the industry to produce smart textile for the world market, Ministry of Textiles has introduced the Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme which includes the Smart Textiles.

16-Nov-2022: National Conclave on Technical Textiles “Protech” under National Technical Textiles Mission

The Ministry of Textiles in partnership with Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) and Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA) organized a full-day event “National Conclave on Technical Textiles – Protech” here today. The Chief Guest, Ms. Rachna Shah, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, inaugurated the Conclave.

The Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, also inaugurated the exhibition of companies encompassing wide range of protective textile products.

There were three panel discussions in the conclave covering Prospect of indigenisation of Protective Textile products in India, Experience and Expectations of consumers towards adoption of Indian protective textiles and Market promotion & Export opportunities of Protective Textiles in India along with Global Best Practices. Around 450 participants attended the conclave including Officials and Representatives from Central Government, Indian Forces, researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals related to technical textiles especially Protech.

Speaking at the event, Ms. Rachna Shah, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, highlighted that India’s textile industry is a major contributor to the Indian economy and India’s exports. The Technical Textile is a sunrise industry with a robust growth rate of 10% annually. However, the sector is still small in size and there is a lot of opportunity for India to be a prominent player in the global arena.

Talking about the vibrancy and energy in the Technical Textiles sector, she added that India is poised to emerge as a powerful destination for manufacturing and exports. However, it is the need of the hour to focus on product diversification, design, aesthetics, as well as need for training for the manpower involved.

She highlighted the concerted effort by the Ministry of Textiles under the NTTM to develop and implement standards for the technical textiles items and produce and market quality products that are at par with international standards.

She highlighted that one of the most prominent applications of technical textiles is in protective segment, which are used for its functional performance in the areas of protection. Focus should be on indigenization of technology and implementation of quality standards in niche Protech items, given the spur in global demand and usage for Protech products, she further added.

Ms. Roop Rashi, Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, in her address she mentioned that there is a need to focus on outcome-oriented R&D in the sector, and given Ministry of Textiles’ focus on R&D which is a major component of the NTTM, tremendous growth is anticipated in the coming years. She apprised about the Government’s efforts on resolving issues in this sector in terms of credit support, subsidy support, facilitation of investment flow among others. She mentioned that the Technical Textiles industry will be a catalyst to fulfil India’s vision of Industry 4.0.

Mr. Rajeev Saxena, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, presented on the credentials of Indian technical textiles market, especially protech, to the august gathering of the conclave. He emphasized on the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) and its components including Research, Development and Innovation; Skilling, Training and Education; Promotion and Market Development; and Export Promotion.

He highlighted on the various initiatives undertaken under the mission such as supporting R&D Projects in niche and strategic Protech areas, QCOs on 12 protech items, among others. He stated that the Government will soon be coming up with guidelines to support create an education ecosystem and skilled workforce in the field of technical textiles with the development of new courses & laboratory infrastructure in technical textiles, amongst others to promote the growth of technical textiles in India.

Mr. Raj Kumar Jain, Chairman, NITRA, said that the market for Technical Textiles is expanding as the products are being put to use by an ever-increasing number of end users in various industries such as protective wear, agriculture, amongst others. Furthermore, with the increase in disposable income, the consumption of technical textiles is expected to increase even in retail households in the near future. He appreciated Ministry of Textiles for launching many Schemes for growth and development of technical textiles such as PLI scheme, PM MITRA, National Technical Textiles Mission etc. He highlighted that the Government of India is promoting indigenous manufacture of technical textiles to explore the global opportunities and cater to the domestic demand as well.

Mr. Amit Agarwal, Chairman, ITTA, highlighted that protective textiles are not only used in fire scenarios, but have wider usage in many hazardous prone activities related to energy transmission, radiation energy, amongst others. He stated that there exists a huge potential for protective textiles in India given increasing exposure to hazards and presence of five crore people in organized and almost equal people in unorganized sector. India should focus on enhancing the standardization for technical textiles items, he added. He emphasized that mandating for the use of technical textiles by user industry would significantly drive the growth of technical textiles in India.

Dr. Arindam Basu, Director General, NITRA, apprised about the research facilities and projects undertaken by Northern India Textiles Research Association in the field of technical textiles, especially protective textiles.

2-Nov-2022: Ministry of Textiles clears 20 Strategic Projects in the areas of Specialty Fibres, Agro-textile, Protech, Sportech and Geotech segment under the Flagship Programme National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM)

Ministry of Textiles cleared 20 strategic research projects worth around INR 74 crores in the areas of Agrotextiles , Speciality fiber, Smart textiles, Activewear textiles, Strategic application areas Protective gear and apparel Sports textiles under the chairmanship of Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles on 1st November 2022. These strategic research projects fall under the Flagship Programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’

Among these 20 Research projects, 5 Projects of Speciality Fibres, 6 Projects of Agro-textiles, 2 Projects from Smart Textiles, 2 from protective gear and apparel, 2 from geotextiles, 1 from activewear apparels, 1 from strategic application area, 1 from sports textiles were cleared.

The Minister provided his inputs pertaining to Technical Textiles for the meeting along with the officials from different Line Ministries. Leading Indian Institutes including IITs, Government Organizations, Research Organization and Eminent Industrialists, among others participated in the session which cleared projects strategic for the development of Indian economy and a step in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat, especially in the field of Geotech, Industrial and Protective, Agriculture and Infrastructure.

While addressing the esteemed group of Scientists and Technical Technologists, Shri Piyush Goyal said, “Industry and Academia linkages are essential for the growth of research and development in the application areas of Technical Textiles in India. Building convergence with Academicians, Scientists and Researchers is the need of the hour.”

Shri Piyush Goyal emphasised on the importance of contributions of technology and segment experts, scientists and academicians to India’s technical textiles future growth.

Despite the prominent usage of speciality fibres in India, indigenization of the technology has still been a major challenge which needs collaborative interventions from both industry and academia, he further added.

The Minister further emphasized on robust indigenization of machineries and equipments for the technical textile sector to establish sustained and strong foothold in the global landscape.

Revision of R&D guidelines and creation of dedicated indigenous machinery and equipment development guidelines under NTTM were discussed and recommended by the committee during the meeting

To bolster the innovation and research ecosystem in technical textiles, NTTM to support ideation and prototyping R&D projects worth upto INR 50 lakhs and 100 lakhs respectively, which have clear potential to translate into commercial products and technologies.

16-Sep-2022: Centre clears 23 Strategic Projects worth Rs 60 Crore

The Ministry of Textiles cleared 23 strategic research projects worth around INR 60 crores in the areas of Specialty fibres, Sustainable Textiles, Geotextiles, Mobiltech and Sports textiles under the chairmanship of Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal, on 14th of September 2022. These strategic research projects fall under the Flagship Programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’

Among these 23 Research projects, 12 Projects of Speciality Fibres having application areas in Agriculture, Smart Textiles, Healthcare, Strategic Application and Protective gears were cleared. 4 Projects from Sustainable Textiles having application area in Agriculture and Healthcare Sector were cleared. Also, 5 projects from Geotextile, 1 from Mobiltech and 1 from Sportech were cleared.

Member NITI Aayog (Science & Tech) & Principle Scientific Advisor (PSA) provided inputs pertaining to Technical Textile for the meeting along with Line Ministries. Various leading Indian Institutes including IITs, Government Organizations, and Eminent Industrialists, among others participated in the session which cleared projects strategic for the development of Indian economy and a step in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat, especially in the Healthcare, Industrial and Protective, Energy Storage, Agriculture and Infrastructure.

While addressing the esteemed group of Scientists and Technical Technologists, Shri Piyush Goyal said, “Industry and Academia connect is essential for the growth of research and development in the application areas of Technical Textiles in India. Building convergence with Academicians, Scientists and Researchers is the need of the hour.”

Shri Piyush Goyal emphasised on the importance of contributions of technology and segment experts, scientists and academicians to India’s technical textiles future growth.

Shri Piyush Goyal highlighted that the technological gap in the country needs to be addressed in the field of technical textiles. Identification of the area of research in technical textiles with industry interaction and promotional activities like conferences, exhibition, and buyer-seller meet to promote the use of Technical Textile in the country and to increase the exports to be the key focus areas.

19-Mar-2020: Setting Up of National Technical Textile Mission

The government has approved the proposal for creation of National Technical Textiles Mission for a period of 4 years (2020-21 to 2023-24) with an outlay of Rs.1480 crores.

The focus of the Mission is for developing on usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions, programmes of the country including strategic sectors. The use of technical textiles in agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, poultry, etc. Jal Jivan Mission; Swachch Bharat Mission; Ayushman Bharat will bring an overall improvement in cost economy, water and soil conservation, better agricultural productivity and higher income to farmers per acre of land holding in addition to promotion of manufacturing and exports activities in India. The use of geo-textiles in highways, railways and ports will result in robust infrastructure, reduced maintenance cost and higher life cycle of the infrastructure assets.

Promotion of innovation amongst young engineering /technology/ science standards and graduates is proposed to be taken up by the Mission along with creation of innovation and incubation centres and promotion of start-up and Ventures. The research output will be reposited with a Trust with the Government for easy and assessable proliferation of the knowledge thus gained through research innovation and development activities.

A sub-component of the research will focus on development of bio degradable technical textiles materials, particularly for agro-textiles, geo-textiles and medical textiles. It will also develop suitable equipment for environmentally sustainable disposal of used technical textiles, with emphasis on safe disposal of medical and hygiene wastes.

There is another important sub-component in the research activity aiming at development of indigenous machineries and process equipment for technical textiles, in order to promote Make In India and enable competitiveness of the industry by way of reduced capital costs.

The mission will work for holistic development of entire technical textile sector on pan-India basis and aims to generate 2 lakhs jobs in organized/ unorganized sector in the country.

26-Feb-2020: CCEA approves Creation of National Technical Textiles Mission 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a total outlay of Rs 1480 Crore, with a view to position the country as a global leader in Technical Textiles. The Mission would have a four year implementation period from FY 2020-21 to 2023-24.

Technical Textiles are futuristic and nice segment of textiles, which are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one end to bullet proof jacket, fire proof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on other end of spectrum.

The Mission will have four components:

1. Component -l (Research, Innovation and Development) with outlay of Rs. 1000 Crore. This component will promote both (i) fundamental research at fibre level aiming at path breaking technological products in Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and Composites and (ii) application based research in geo-textiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles, mobile textiles and sports textiles and development of bio­degradable technical textiles.

The fundamental research activities will be based on 'pooled resource' method and will be conducted in various Centre for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and other scientific/industrial/academic laboratories of repute. Application based research will be conducted in CSIR, IIT, Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL), Indian Road Research Institute (IRRI) and other such reputed laboratories.

2. Component -II (Promotion and Market Development)

Indian Technical Textiles segment is estimated at USD 16 Billion which is approximately 6% of the 250 Billion USD global technical textiles market. The penetration level of technical textiles is low in India varying between 5-10% against the level of 30-70% in developed countries. The Mission will aim at average growth rate of 15-20% per annum taking the level of domestic market size to 40-50 Billion USD by the year 2024; through market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and 'Make in India' initiatives.

3. Component - III (Export Promotion)

The component aims at export promotion of technical textiles enhancing from the current annual value of approximately Rs.14000 Crore to Rs.20000 Crore by 2021-22 and ensuring 10% average growth in exports per year upto 2023-24. An Export Promotion Council for Technical Textiles will be set up for effective coordination and promotion activities in the segment.

4. Component- IV (Education, Training, Skill Development)

Education, skill development and adequacy of human resources in the country is not adequate to meet the technologically challenging and fast growing technical textiles segment. The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas covering engineering, medical, agriculture, aquaculture and dairy segments. Skill development will be promoted and adequate pool of highly skilled manpower resources will be created for meeting the need of relatively sophisticated technical textiles manufacturing units.

The Mission will focus on usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions, programmes of the country including strategic sectors. The use of technical textiles in agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, poultry, etc. Jal Jivan Mission; Swachh Bharat Mission; Ayushman Bharat will bring an overall improvement in cost economy, water and soil conservation, better agricultural productivity and higher income to farmers per acre of land holding in addition to promotion of manufacturing and exports activities in India. The use of geo-textiles in highways, railways and ports will result in robust infrastructure, reduced maintenance cost and higher life cycle of the infrastructure assets.

Promotion of innovation amongst young engineering /technology/ science standards and graduates will be taken up by the Mission; along with creation of innovation and incubation centres and promotion of 'start-up' and Ventures'. The research output will be reposited with a ‘Trust’ with the Government for easy and assessable proliferation of the knowledge thus gained through research innovation and development activities.

A sub-component of the research will focus on development of bio degradable technical textiles materials, particularly for agro-textiles, geotextiles and medical textiles. It will also develop suitable equipment for environmentally sustainable disposal of used technical textiles, with emphasis on safe disposal of medical and hygiene wastes.

There is another important sub-component in the research activity aiming at development of indigenous machineries and process equipment for technical textiles, in order to promote 'Make In India' and enable competitiveness of the industry by way of reduced capital costs.

A Mission Directorate in the Ministry of Textiles headed by an eminent expert in the related field will be made operational. The Mission Directorate will not have any permanent employment and there will be no creation of building infrastructure for the Mission purpose. The Mission will move into sunset phase after four years period.

Background of Technical Textiles: Technical textiles are textiles materials and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic characteristics. Technical Textiles products are divided into 12 broad categories (Agritech, Buildtech, Clothtech, Geotech, Hometech, Indutech, Mobiltech, Meditech, Protech, Sportstech, Oekotech, Packtech) depending upon their application areas.

India shares nearly 6% of world market size of 250 Billion USD. However, the annual average growth of the segment is 12%, as compared to 4% world average growth.

Penetration level of technical textiles is low in India at 5-10%, against 30-70% in advanced countries. The Mission aims at improving penetration level of technical textiles in the country.

12-Dec-2019: Technical Textiles Industry in India

Technical Textiles are material and products manufactured primarily for their technical properties and functional requirements rather than for aesthetic characteristics. The scope of use of technical textiles encompasses a wide range of applications such as; agro-textiles, medical textiles, geo-textiles, protection-textiles, industrial-textiles, sports-textiles and many other usages. Use of technical textiles have benefits of increased productivity in agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture fields; better protection of military, para-military, police and security forces, stronger and sturdier transportation infrastructure for highways, railways, ports and airports and in improving hygiene and healthcare of general public. In India, technical textiles hold immense growth opportunities both for the industry as well as across various applications.

Technical Textiles is the harbinger of many new age applications covering almost all walks of life, and having immense potential for bringing in higher level of productivity, efficiency, cost economics; and offering innovative solutions to many engineering and general applications. In addition to their commercial use, technical textiles have been identified for mandatory use across various important missions, programmes and schemes of the Government of India. Some of these are National Health Mission, Jal Jivan Mission, National Horticulture Mission and infrastructure development of highways, railways and ports.

In order to boost a rapid growth of the technical textile segment in the country, the government has taken following major initiatives:

• 207 technical textiles items have been brought under separate head in the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) code under the Foreign Trade Policy.
• With a view to derive the benefits of technical textiles in various fields of applications, currently 92 application areas have been identified for mandatory use across 10 Central Ministries/Departments. So far, mandatory use notifications have been issued for 68 applications.
• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has developed standards for 348 technical textiles products.
• On request from the Industry, Ministry of Textiles has included 6 additional courses for technical textiles in its Skill Development Programme called Samarth.
• The work of conducting fresh baseline survey on technical textiles sector has been given to IIT Delhi. 
• The Ministry has issued Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order dated 23.10.2019, prescribing minimum local purchase content for technical textiles items in 10 segments for government procurement.

In terms of the projections of the last baseline survey on technical textiles submitted in 2015, the market size in India for the year 2017-18 is projected as Rs 1,16,217 crore. Although, there is no projection in the last baseline study with regard to the projections for the 2020-21, taking into account the current trend of growth and various initiatives of the government, domestic market size of the technical textiles is expected to cross Rs 2 lakh crores by the year 2020-21.

29-Jan-2019: Government to Give Major Boost to Technical Textiles Sector

“Under the aegis of Ministry of Textiles, for the first time in the history of India, we have dedicated to the nation 207 HSN codes for technical textiles. I see this as a function of unleashing the potential of not only technical textiles but also of an industry which impacts both our farm life and our space pursuits. This decision alone can enable the sector to grow to a market size of 2 lakh crore rupees by 2020-2021”. This was stated by the Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, at the National Conclave on Technical Textiles, jointly organized by the Ministry of Textiles and FICCI, in Mumbai today. Stating that the notification is a milestone which is significant for the industry, the Minister thanked the industry who have guided and inspired the Government in this initiative.

To monitor the data of import and export and in order to provide any fiscal support to the technical textile sector, the first step was to recognize and notify separately the technical textiles items spread from chapter 1 to 99 of HSN classification book. In absence of clear classification of technical textiles, there was confusion and many genuine manufactures were not getting various incentives being allowed to technical textile sector by Central and State Governments. To fulfill the long-standing demand of industry to declare Technical Textile items as separate category, Government of India has notified 207 HSN Codes as Technical Textiles. This step will give a major boost to the Technical Textile sector in India and it is expected that this step of Government will act as a catalyst for achieving the Market Size of Technical Textiles up to Rs.2.00 lakh crore by 2020-21.

Speaking about the potential of agricultural textiles, the Minister said that it has been proven that the income of a farmer who uses agritech goes up by 60% - 70%. She said that the contribution of agritech is at the forefront of the Prime Minister’s desire to double farmers’ income. Technical textile industry can proudly say that we help those who feed us, said the Minister.

The job-giving potential of the technical textiles sector is huge; every Rs. 1 crore investment generates 70 jobs, said the Minister. She said that this will lead to growth in sectors such as research, education and facilities such as testing labs as well. Partnership between agritech companies and Krishi Vigyan Kendras can be very impactful, noted the Minister. She cited a McKinsey Global Institute report, according to which application of agricultural technologies can help close to 90 million farmers by 2025.

Speaking of the historic initiative of Ayushman Bharat, the Minister said that the government is poised to unleash close to 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres across the country. These will be in need of medical textiles. Given standardization and need for quality control, our domestic manufacturers can compete and contribute to the MedTech segment, said the Minister.

Underlining the steps taken by the Government for promotion of technical textiles, the Textiles Minister said that 530 prototype samples in technical textiles have already been developed within the sphere of the Ministry in the past four years; 8 Centres of Excellence have been set up at a cost of 140 crore rupees; 22,000 Indians have been trained in technical textiles in the past 3-4 years; about 650 conclaves and seminars at ground level have been organized; 11 incubation centres have been set up; 40 geotextile projects for roads, water reservoirs and slope stabilization have been undertaken; steps have been taken to ensure that farmers embrace agritech through demonstrations at 54 agritech demonstration centres; and kits have been distributed kits on using agritech in day-to-day working.

The Minister informed that a committee has been constituted to give recommendations for R&D plan for the future growth of the technical textile industry and specifically for preparing a way forward for high performance specialty fibres in India. Noting that imported specialty fibres is one of our biggest challenges, Smt. Irani said that India is well-poised to ensure that the technology is affordable, we being the affordable innovators of the world.

Smt. Irani announced that an Innovation Centre for Technical Textiles will be set up at the national capital next month, with industry support. She said that steps like this can help us go beyond the 2 lakh crore target for the sector.

Wishing the best for the deliberations and debate for the day, the Minister hoped that the way forward that is determined the contribution during the Conclave will be a milestone not only for the technical textiles industry but also for the future of India and the Indian economy.

The event was also a curtain raiser for TechnoTex 2019, to be held in August 2019.

More than 200 industry and government delegates from various segments of technical textiles are attending the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Shri Raghavendra Singh said that the government is taking a number of steps for the technical textiles sector; the sector is given importance at the highest level. There are many more measures in the offing, such as giving weightage to technical textiles in government tenders. He added that the Ministry has initiated the latest technical textiles baseline survey to estimate the industry size.

Member, NITI Aayog, Dr. V K Saraswat addressed the participants and said that standardization of technical textiles products is important and notification of HSN Codes for these items was a major step in that direction. He emphasized that we need to encourage indigenous manufacturing of technical textiles and also check the import of sub-standard items.

Immediate Past President, FICCI, Mr. Rashesh Shah said that the focus on technical textiles by Government of India complements well with the Prime Minister's vision of New India where we are looking at the development of next generation infrastructure. Mr. Shah thanked the Textiles Minister for notifying HSN Codes for the 207 technical textiles items; he said it would help in giving due recognition to the sector.

Executive Director, Reliance Industries Ltd,, Mr. Nikhil Meswani said that technical textiles is a fast growing segment globally, growing at 6% - at double the growth rate of polyester segment. It has the potential to achieve a size of US $ 34 billion in next few years in India and also achieve a growth of 20% per annum.

Also speaking at the programme was CEO & Jt MD, Welspun India Ltd., Ms. Dipali Goenka who highlighted the potential of technical textiles in India. India continues to be a bright spot in the world and is estimated to become the third largest economy by 2030; she said it can leverage its strength in fibres and yarns for the growth of technical textiles sector.

Technical textiles are textile material and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic and decorative characteristics. They find application not only in clothing but also in areas like agriculture, medical, infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, sports, defence and packaging.

The technical textile sector is the sunshine sector for the textile industry and it is one of the fastest growing segments of the Indian Economy. This sector is expected to see a double digit growth in coming years and is projected to reach a market size of Rs. 2 lakh crores by 2020-21.

As per baseline survey of technical textile industry in India, there are around 2100 units manufacturing technical textiles in the country and most of them are concentrated in Gujarat followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. India has 4-5% share in the global technical textiles market size across twelve segments.

Technical textiles constitute 12-15% of the total textile value chain in India, whereas in some of the European countries technical textiles constitute 50% of the total textiles value chain.

31-Oct-2022: Centre approves Maharashtra’s first Electronics Manufacturing Cluster at Ranjangaon, Pune

As part of its objective to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has approved the greenfield Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) with the project cost of Rs 492.85 crores to be set up in Ranjangaon Phase III, near Pune in Maharashtra.

Making this announcement, the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “We already have EMCs in Noida, Tirupati, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - wherein both multi-national companies and Indian startups have set up their units. The Government of India is the enabling partner in these EMCs and it is working in tandem with the state governments to make these EMCs a catalyst for the electronics manufacturing in the state.” He further added that the EMC at Ranjangaon, Pune will catalyse investments to the tune of over Rs. 2000 crore in the near future & generate employment for over 5,000 people.

The Minister also announced that the Ministry of Electronics and IT plans to give a boost to the 1000 Crore Semicon India Future Design programme to support Semiconductor Design Startups in the state and shall soon visit Maharashtra for a roadshow. He informed that C-DAC, Pune shall be the nodal office for this purpose.

The approval for the EMC was given to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the State government’s State Industrial Agency. “Both Chief Minister, Shri Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister, Shri Devendra Fadnavis are committed to the development of electronics sector in the State. They both have proactively followed up with the Centre for this EMC at Ranjangaon, Pune,” he said.

He said that post Covid, it has become very competitive for the countries/states to corner the opportunities that have sprung up following disruptions in global value chains and supply chains.

Stating that electronics manufacturing has seen an exponential rise after Prime Minister Modi took over in 2014, Shri Chandrasekhar said it has increased to six lakh crores from one lakh crores in 2014.

“While 92% of all mobile phones used by Indian customers were imported in 2014, now 97% of all mobile phones used by Indian customers were domestically manufactured. We had zero exports in electronics manufacturing space in 2014, at present we export equipment worth 70,000 crores,” he elaborated.

Citing the example of EMC at Tirupati, the foundation stone of which was laid out in 2015 by the Prime Minister & now boasts of India’s first Lithium Cell manufacturing plant, the Minister affirmed that these EMCs will prove to be the pivot points around which the electronics manufacturing and design ecosystem shall flourish in the years to come - taking India towards its target of US $300 Bn of electronics manufacturing by 2025/26.