NEW DELHI: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, stated on Tuesday that the government is on track to meet its $300 billion target for electronics manufacturing, a whopping 20–25 times expansion in less than ten years.

According to the Vision Document 2.0 created by the IT Ministry and the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), India can produce and export electronics worth $300 billion by 2025–2026 if certain product segments with a high potential for scale are identified and catered to through incentives and policy measures.

"In 2014, there were around $12 billion in electronics manufacturing, but India wants to reach $300 billion by 2026, which would represent a 20–25 times increase in just 11 years. Thanks to the resolute policies and leadership of PM @narendramodi ji," Chandrasekhar wrote in a tweet.

India's electronics industry saw record exports of electronic goods, estimated at Rs 1,85,000 crore in FY22-23 (compared to Rs 1,16,936 crore in FY21-22), representing a staggering 58 per cent gain. This growth was driven primarily by domestically produced mobile phones.

Mobile phone exports reportedly broke the $10 billion barrier for the first time in any fiscal year in FY23, reaching an estimated $11.12 billion (more than Rs 90,000 crore), according to data from the ICEA.

By 2020–2021, the electronics manufacturing sector will have increased from $37.1 billion in 2015–16 to $67.3 billion. However, the interruptions brought on by COVID-19 affected the economic trajectory in 2020–21 and caused the manufacturing output to fall to $67.3 billion.

Moreover, carrying on on the path of import substitution, India's domestic electronics market is estimated to reach at best USD 150-180 billion from the current USD 65 billion over the next 4-5 years.

Therefore, in order to attain the $300 billion threshold for electronics production, exports of $120-140 billion are essential. According to the Vision Document 2.0, this is crucial for the $5 trillion economy, $1 trillion digital economy, and $1 trillion export target that are each anticipated by MeitY and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

India is a top competitor for alternative solutions for international electronics firms. Within the next three to five years, India's electronics industry has the potential to rank among the country's top exports. According to the study, exports of electronics might generate a considerable amount of foreign cash and create a lot of jobs for the Indian economy.

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