The Central Government, on 25 October 2012, cleared the National Policy on Electronics 2012, which aims to make the domestic electronic hardware manufacturing segment into a $ 400 billion industry by 2020.
The strategies include setting up of a National Electronics Mission with industry participation and renaming the Department of Information Technology as Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY).
It will foster the manufacturing of indigenously designed and manufactured chips creating a more cyber secure ecosystem in the country. It will enable India to tap the great economic potential that this knowledge sector offers. The increased development and manufacturing in the sector will lead to greater economic growth through more manufacturing and consequently greater employment in the sector.
The key objectives of the policy are:
(i) To create an eco-system for a globally competitive Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in the country to achieve a turnover of about USD 400 billion (approx Rs 21,40,000 crore) by 2020 involving investment of about USD 100 billion and employment to around 28 million people at various levels.
(ii) To build on the emerging chip design and embedded software industry to achieve global leadership in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI), chip design and other frontier technical areas and to achieve a turnover of USD 55 billion by 2020.
(iii) To build a strong supply chain of raw materials, parts and electronic components to raise the indigenous availability of these inputs from the present 20-25 per cent to over 60 per cent by 2020.
(iv) To increase the export in ESDM sector from USD 5.5 billion to USD 80 billion by 2020.
(vi) To create an institutional mechanism for developing and mandating standards and certification for electronic products and services to strengthen quality assessment infrastructure nationwide.
(vii) To develop an appropriate security ecosystem in ESDM.
(viii) To create long-term partnerships between ESDM and strategic and core infrastructure sectors - Defence, Atomic Energy, Space, Railways, Power, Telecommunications, etc.
(ix) To become a global leader in creating Intellectual Property (IP) in the ESDM sector by increasing fund flow for R and D, seed capital and venture capital for start-ups in the ESDM and nano-electronics sectors.
(x) To develop core competencies in strategic and core infrastructure sectors like telecommunications, automotive, avionics, industrial, medical, solar, Information and Broadcasting, Railways, etc through use of ESDM in these sectors.
(xi) To use technology to develop electronic products catering to domestic needs, including rural needs and conditions, as well as international needs at affordable price points.
(xii) To become a global leader in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) segment by promoting progressive higher value addition in manufacturing and product development.
(xiii) To expedite adoption of best practices in e-waste management.
(xiv) To source, stockpile and promote indigenous exploration and mining of rare earth metals required for manufacture of electronic components.