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The general distrust against China following the COVID-19 outbreak could be an opportunity for India’s state governments to try and attract investments into the electronics manufacturing sectors, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Monday. In his conference with state IT ministers, Prasad said that states should be “proactive” when such as opportunity comes, as there will “anger against China”.
On March 22, the Cabinet had approved three schemes worth Rs 48,000 crore for promotion of electronics manufacturing in the country. Apart from direct production-linked incentives for companies, the government had also announced two schemes under which electronics manufacturing units could get benefits for setting up plants at remote or underdeveloped locations.
The Centre’s initial plans to make India a hub for high-end large electronics equipment and semiconductor units hit a roadblock after most global companies opted to assemble in India rather than set up manufacturing units.
The Economic Survey 2019-20 noted this and observed India should follow the China model of becoming an assembling hub for the world for ‘network products’ such as computers, electronics, and road vehicles to raise its share in the world export market.
Reviewing the domestic situation of the information technology (IT) industry, Prasad said that over 95 per cent of employees in the sector were working from home, according to data by Nasscom. To further facilitate work from home measures and ensure social distancing, the government has decided relax the norms till July 31.
The government is also monitoring the spread of fake news and has alerted all social media intermediaries to ensure that any articles or news which can fan communal tension due to any misinformation on COVID-19 must be taken down immediately, Prasad told reporters via a virtual press conference after his meeting with state IT ministers.
