Business Reporter
INDIA has slowed down on the manufacturing
front and needs to double down
on electronics manufacturing services
(EMS)-designing, manufacturing, testing
components and assemblies for
original equipment manufacturers,
Tata Electronics Chairman Banmali
Agrawala said.
During a conversation with Vinay
Ramesh, COO at the Foundation for
Economic Development, Agrawala said
India has gone‘slow’ on the manufacturing
front and needed to ensure that the sector,
which accounts for 13-15 per cent of
India's GDP, has a much larger share as
it will create better-paying jobs.
“Our share in the global trade in manufacturing
is negligible, so there is ample
room for growth. Electronics, on its own,
has a global trade worth USD 5 trillion.
Given the pace of digitalisation the world
over, it is only going to grow, and this is
something India should be after,”
Agrawala said, adding that India’s domestic
consumption is not going to be enough
to be able to achieve sustained economic
growth.
“We have to have the world as our marketplace,”
he said.
Agrawala further said the government
should continue to work with the sense
of urgency they have shown so far and
ensure that the enabling infrastructure
for manufacturing is in place.
“It’s not just the quantity but also the
quality of power and water supply that
matters. This makes the difference; the
logistics in terms of connectivity to airports,
proximity of airports, because the
components industry moves through air.
The government would do well to ensure
this enabling infrastructure is in place. A
lot of this is in the domain of state governments,”
he added.
He further said that this is going to be
a people-heavy operation.
“We’re talking about youngsters, 50,000-
70,000 people working in a single factory
or location, aged 20-25, mostly women,
so we need to ensure that the supporting
ecosystem for education, healthcare and
recreation is in place,” he said.