India-suited, low cost mobile products: IT Min contest seeks ideas for prototype

Apart from cash prizes of up to Rs 25,000 for best design and prototype, the Ministry will also help winners secure funds for scaling the production of best electronic products from prototype to assembly lines, an IT Ministry official said.

Cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh have been kept as first, second and third prize for categories of name, tagline and logo. (Image source : File / Representational image)

Aiming to improve indigenous designing of electronic equipment which is more suited to uses for domestic customers, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has invited local companies and innovators to design and submit ideas for products used with mobile phones such as low cost power bank, wireless chargers, bluetooth speakers, among others.

Apart from cash prizes of up to Rs 25,000 for best design and prototype, the Ministry will also help winners secure funds for scaling the production of best electronic products from prototype to assembly lines, an IT Ministry official said.

“There is a need to develop quality, low cost products which are used with mobile handsets so that they are more suited to Indian needs. Say, a smart light system, which is for now mostly imported and is sometimes not suited as per domestic voltage and wattage situations,” the official added.

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The design competition is the latest in a series of awards, incentives and funds announced by the Central government as well as the IT Ministry for the promotion of startups and local manufacturing.

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Showcasing local talent, fostering competition

Through the design competition, the IT Ministry also wants to showcase the development of indigenous talent that has developed over the last five years in the mobile manufacturing and allied components space. The Ministry will pitch the successful prototypes for production within local companies so as to augment and foster healthy competition in this space.

Earlier in January, the government had announced setting up of a Rs 1,000-crore seed fund for startups, called Startup India Seed Fund, aimed at helping startups with the initial capital for growth and operations. It was preceded by another fund launched in August 2020, which aimed to identify 300 startups which would be provided seed fund of up to Rs 25 lakh.

Apart from the IT Ministry, the Finance Ministry, along with IT Ministry’s MyGovIndia platform, too has announced a contest to crowdsource the name, tagline and logo of the new Development Financial Institution (DFI).

“Name, tagline and logo should represent the intent behind setting up of the Development Financial Institution and be a clear marker of what it will/can do. It should in effect be like a visual signature, easy to recall and pronounce,” the details posted on MyGov website stated.

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Cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh have been kept as first, second and third prize for categories of name, tagline and logo. The contest, for which the last date is August 15, has already received 1972 applications.

The setting up of a Development Financial Institution was announced in the Budget for 2021-22. Both Houses of Parliament passed the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Bill 2021 in March.

Aanchal Magazine

Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports on the macro economy and fiscal policy, with a special focus on economic science, labour trends, taxation and revenue metrics. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she has also reported in detail on macroeconomic data such as trends and policy actions related to inflation, GDP growth and fiscal arithmetic. Interested in the history of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to read about its culture and tradition in her spare time, along with trying to map the journeys of displacement from there. ... Read More

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