The Electronics System Design and Manufacturing sector (ESDM) is the fastest growing sector in the world. It continues to transform lives, businesses, and economies globally.  The past five years have especially seen a significant gain in the ESDM sector as the global production has undergone a shift from the USA and Europe to Asia. 

India boasts of a huge population, housing one-sixth of the world’s human resources. The nation houses 1.2 billion mobile subscribers and 60 million internet users. According to 2017 data, the ESDM industry is worth $2 Tn, making it a sector of significant importance for India’s growth story. With rising per capita disposable incomes and consumption in the past decade, India has been one of the largest consumers of electronic products specifically in the Asia-Pacific region. By 2025, the electronics market in India is expected to grow up to $400 billion.

The sector currently accounts for 2.5% of India’s GDP and employs over 13 million people. Additionally, the nation’s share in the global electronics manufacturing has grown from around 1.3% in 2012 to 3% in 2018. India has also emerged as the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones across the world in 2018 with the production value reaching $24.3 Billion. 

Presently, India is undergoing a digital revolution. With a growing middle-class population, rising disposable incomes and declining electronics prices, there has been a definite surge in the consumption of electronics devices in India. Newer technologies like the rollout of 5G and IoT has ushered a new era for the 'New India'. 

In order to support the ESDM sector and its growth path, the Government of India has made electronics production an important pillar of many initiatives such as 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Startup India'. The ESDM sector holds a position of key importance in the government’s goal of generating $1 tn of economic value from the digital economy by 2025.

The world is currently facing an unprecedented situation and is under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, digital transformation is taking place at an accelerated rate. This transformation is especially important in laying the foundation for a digitally enabled India post-COVID-19. 

Last month in April 2020, the Indian government approved 3 key schemes to enable the electronics manufacturing sector and attract fresh investments into the country under the umbrella of the electronics sector. This move is expected to attract investments worth at least $ 6 billion into the country. Additionally, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ which would pave the way towards welcoming more self-reliant technologies for the nation. 

The silver lining to the dark cloud of this pandemic is the exponential and sustainable increase in the impact that can be created through the ESDM sector. In the future, all problems would be viewed with a digitally empowered lens thereby, unleashing the huge potential of the electronics industry both domestically and globally. The digitization of manufacturing operations and management, and the creation of optimized supply chains is simply the beginning of the digital transformation of the 'New India'.

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