The Central government proposed to give investment subsidies to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore to give a big boost to the country’s electronics industry in the next ten years, a key official said today. This push is expected to generate Rs 4 lakh crore of investment in the sector and also create 20 million jobs in this decade, Joint Secretary in the Department of Information Technology Ajay Kumar said here.
Addressing a strategic electronics summit 2011, focused on defence and aerospace, organised by the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA) here, he said the Government has also proposed a seed and venture capital fund with a size of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore to support start-ups and new ideas in the electonics sector.
Noting that a special incentive package for the electronics industry expired last year, Kumar said a modified one in its place is “coming”. Under the proposed new package,incentives would be made available to units across the value chain.
In the old package, it was available only for chips and high-tech components but in the new one, incentives would be available from raw materials to final product and accessories irrespective of the extent of value addition done, he said.
Kumar also said the threshold limit for eligibility for subsidies would be brought down to Rs one crore from the earlier Rs 1,000 crore so that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would also get incentives, which was not the case earlier.
PTI
