Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme on 30th April at the Secretariat. The scheme is part of a broader vision of the Tamil Nadu Semiconductor and Advanced Electronics Policy 2024. The policy ostensibly is intended to attract large-scale investments in the semiconductor and electronics sectors. Tamil Nadu, which already tops in electronics manufacturing and export in the country, is now taking strategic actions to develop its electronics component manufacturing ecosystem. The Tamil Nadu Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme provides for matching state-level subsidies to complement central incentives.
Addressing a press conference, Tamil Nadu Industries Minister Dr T R B Rajaa said the scheme was a game-changer. He was hopeful that the initiative would help the state attract investment to the tune of around Rs 30,000 crore. Through this scheme, Tamil Nadu is hoping to generate employment opportunities for 60,000 people.
Fielding a range of questions, the minister said that Tamil Nadu led other states in electronics manufacturing. At USD 14.6 billion, Tamil Nadu, he said, ranked number one in electronic manufacturing in the country. The State Government, led by Stalin, had fixed an ambitious target of USD 100 billion in electronic manufacturing. While unwilling to fix a time frame for hitting this target, Mr Rajaa said the Chief Minister wasn’t satisfied with just scaling a mountain. “In fact, he (Stalin) wants Tamil Nadu to conquer the entire range.”
The scheme, he tweeted, would supercharge the electronics ecosystem in Tamil Nadu and take the State up the value chain. “We are now deep into the building blocks of electronics,” he added. “From leading in smartphone exports to now driving the future in components such as camera/display modules and sub-assemblies, sensors, HDI/Flexi PCBs, Li-ion cells, SMD passive components, etc, and we are proving once more why Tamil Nadu is the engine powering India’s manufacturing growth story. Welcome to the Electronics Capital of India,” the minister tweeted.
To a query, he said Tamil Nadu allowed a unique model that allowed the ecosystem to evolve itself around the main plant. This outlook towards distributed development kept the State in good stead, he felt.
The Central scheme
The Union Cabinet, on March 28, approved a production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) for passive or non-semiconductor electronics components with an outlay of Rs. 22,919 crore.
Announcing it, the Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said. It was the first scheme that focused on promoting the manufacturing of passive electronic components. The Union Minister had indicated that the scheme would create direct employment for 91,600 people and attract investment of around Rs. 59,350 crore. “Passive components are approved under the Electronics Component PLI scheme. It has a total package of Rs 22,919 crore. This will be over six years,” Vaishnaw had said. The scheme, according to him, is expected to lead to a production of Rs 4.56 lakh crore.
