China-plus-one strategy puts India at a vantage position: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

India has a great scope to emerge as a sizable player in electronics and semiconductor products manufacturing as part of China-plus-one diversification strategy, said Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

“We are well-positioned to become a trusted global partner under China-plus-one strategy and hopeful of becoming part of Global Value Chains (GVCs) for logic semiconductors, chip sets and other electronic products,’‘ the Minister said here on Thursday, while speaking at the 25th edition of Bengaluru Technology Summit, Karnataka’s annual tech exposition.

Elaborating on the opportunities for India currently, he said electronics and semiconductor products today was a $1.5 trillion industry with China solely accounting for almost 75% of it and having enjoyed a monopoly in the sector for over two decades now.

“However, the pandemic has brought tectonic changes in the global electronics and semiconductor industry and they triggered huge chip shortages and a shift in GVCs. Global economies are no longer dependent only on China and a China-plus-one diversification plan is clearly underway,’‘ Mr. Chandrasekhar stated.

According to the Minister, the country’s electronics and semiconductor products manufacturing sector has witnessed a quantum growth in the last almost a decade. For instance, in 2014 some 92% of the mobile devices sold in the country were imported while in 2022 some 97% of mobile devices were manufactured in the country. Also, in 2014, the country’s electronics ecosystem that comprises manufacturing, designing, innovation and production pegged $10 billion, and in 2022 it grew to $75 billion and expected to cross $300 billion by 2025-26.

Electronics and semiconductor sector captured 66% of the FDI that came to India in the last three years, said the Minister.

India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), a specialised business division within the Digital India Corporation that aims to promote the growth of semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry in the country, is currently in the process evaluating business proposals received from several investors to set up fabs and chip manufacturing facilities in the country.