Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The government has drawn a hard line under its electronics push, pairing fresh approvals worth thousands of crores with a blunt warning: subsidies will not flow to companies that treat India as a factory floor without building design muscle. Signalling a shift from scale to strategic value, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said firms under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) must embed design, quality and engineering in India or risk losing support. The warning comes alongside a fresh set of approvals that underline the scheme’s scale. The ministry has cleared 29 new projects involving Rs 7,104 crore investment, taking total approvals to Rs 61,671 crore—surpassing the initial Rs 59,350 crore target.Vaishnaw flagged gaps in industry response, saying the pace of strengthening design and quality capabilities has fallen short of expectations. “Real value gets captured only if design is done in India,” he said, making it clear that incentives will be tied to deeper technological capabilities.He issued a direct warning that approvals alone do not guarantee funding. “We are willing to stop any further disbursements or approvals if the industry doesn’t come up with the commensurate efforts,” he said, adding, “on applications that have been approved, we won’t even disburse if the asks aren’t met.”The scheme now spans 75 applications across 23 product categories and 12 states, with projected production of over Rs 4.5 lakh crore and employment potential exceeding 65,000 jobs, according to official data. The latest approvals include India’s first rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing unit, backed by Rs 700 crore investment and based on indigenous intellectual property, alongside projects in high-end PCBs, capacitors and connectors—segments aimed at building core electronics capabilities.Even as approvals gather pace, the government has tightened compliance. Companies have been given 15 days to submit plans addressing four key requirements—product design, Six Sigma quality standards, talent development and local sourcing.“Manufacturing is easier; translating design into a reliable product is far more complex,” Vaishnaw said, stressing that Six Sigma processes are “essential” for ensuring global-quality output.In a pointed message to industry, the minister said firms failing to align with the government’s integrated approach risk being “weeded out”, adding he may skip the next review meeting if progress remains inadequate. The ministry also indicated stricter monitoring of milestones, linking future incentives to measurable outcomes in design capability, localisation and quality benchmarks across the electronics value chain.
