Impact of pandemic on supply chain is evident in every sector and it is causing governments to boost local manufacturing capabilities. In India, this shift is more pronounced in the fields of electronics, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Electronic equipments market in India comprises a huge import from China. With the disruption of supply chain, India’s dependence on Chinese suppliers has manifested itself in an unimagined way. Electronics import in India is 10-11 percent of its total imports. Out of the total imports from China, 36 percent consists of electrical equipment, telecom devices, audio and video recorders.
To address this issue, central government has announced production linked incentive schemes and localization requirements in public procurement of medical equipments, pharmaceutical devices and electronics. The schemes are aimed at giving a much needed fillip to the manufacturing sector. The domestic electronics manufacturing lags behind the competition by a long way. The sector is impaired with lack of requisite infrastructure, exorbitant cost of finance, inadequate availability of power, weak design capabilities and less focus on R&D and skill development. Although the National Policy on Electronics (NPE 2019) aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM), the reform on the ground needs to gain momentum to accomplish the goal. A support system needs to be developed to give a boost to development of core components and create a conducive environment for the industry to thrive.
