Mobile manufacturing industry to mark Rs 132,000 cr by 2018: Ravi Shankar Prasad

India manufactured about 110 million mobile phones in 2015-16 as compared to 60 million in 2014-15 showing a growth of over 90%. In value terms India’s mobile manufacturing industry produced mobile phones worth Rs 54,000 crore in FY15-16 compared to Rs 18,900 crore in FY14-15.

The same reached Rs 94,000 crore by end of 2017, said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister, of Electronics & Information Technology at MeitY – ASSOCHAM–Ericsson Joint ICT Start-Ups Awards–2018.

In terms of volume, in 2014 India produced 5 core mobile phone made locally in India which reached to 15 crore in 2015-16. In 2017 the Indian mobile manufacturing industry produced 22 million mobile phones. ‘The industry would produce 50 million mobile phones by 2020,’ said the minister.

In terms of electronics manufacturing units, the minister said within three years, the industry added 120 such units. Two-third of these are mobile manufacturing units and there 54 such units in Noida alone. On top of that these industries employ 5 lakh people,” he added.

Prasad further said that India has the world’s third largest start-up community after US and England. He said that his ministry is working in mission mode to make India's digital sector $1 trillion economy in next five years and has potential to create 50 lakh to 70 lakh new jobs.

‘We would like India to become a center of small product cyber security and we must look at how IT can help India become a big center of data analysis’, said Prasad.

Union Electronic and IT Minister said BPO industry should move to small towns where overhead costs are less compared to big cities. About 48,000 seats have been planned with distribution across states and UTs based on population percentage.

It excluded metro cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, National Capital Region, Pune and North Eastern states.
He further said, about 86 new BPOs operating in 27 states excluding digitally rich areas.  BPO centres have already come up in Patna and Muzaffarpur, while such centres would soon be opened in smaller cities like Ghazipur, Jahanabad and Gaya etc, he said.

‘The government will give grant of Rs. 5 crore to start-ups doing innovation in the field of cyber security and healthcare", said Prasad.

Prasad said today 250 hospitals across the country have been turned into e-hospitals and more than 2 crore of patients are taking benefits of the e-hospitals.

eNAM has linked more than 500 market mandis with 70 lakhs of farmers negotiating their price, Union Electronic and IT Minister said.

The Minister also mentioned the increasing adoption of the Umang (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) app, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app that enables secure cashless payments through mobile phones.

Monica Magnusson, Vice President, IPR Policy and Communication at IPR & Licensing, Ericsson, said, “It is heartening to see the growing interest among Indian start-ups in adding value to ICT innovation. Ericsson is committed to encouraging innovation in the country and as a first step we will mentor the winners by making them a part of Ericsson Garage. Ericsson Garage is our open innovation platform that will allow the winners to showcase their technology before a global network of partners, including investors. I want to thank the Hon’ble Minister for his push to encourage platforms that foster the spirit of innovation.”

Sandeep Jajodia, President, ASSOCHAM said, the growth is the necessity but consistency and sustainability are the key for real growth. We need to look way ahead while setting up a business to counter the ever-changing market demand. A successful business creates jobs for many. So, it is the responsibility of the entrepreneur to look forward for a long term business potential by working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialisation of new products & services driven technology for a sustainable impact on economic growth.

Manguirish Pai Raikar, Chairman, ASSOCHAM MSME Council, Start-up India is a vision and mission of our Hon’ble Prime Minister to encourage young Indians to opt for entrepreneurship and ensure future economic growth of the country. This mission will not only create entrepreneurs but will also play an important role in job creation, which is one of the major challenges we facing today.

Image: File