With the state emerging as a major hub for electronics manufacturing in the country, including for Apple phones, the Tamil Nadu government plans to position three cities other than Chennai such as Hosur, Coimbatore, and Tiruchirapalli as possible locations for new investments in the burgeoning sector.
Tamil Nadu, currently accounting for 20 per cent of national production of electronics and hardware, also hopes that it will eventually become a hub for sophisticated electronics manufacturing by building on the component making ecosystem, much like the state transformed itself into an automobile hub from being a major centre for auto components.
Addressing a press conference to announce that the 12th Source India Electronics Supply Chain will be held in Chennai on February 13 and 14, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) S Krishnan expressed hope that electronics majors from across the globe, especially those from East Asia, will participate in large numbers in the expo.
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Positioning Tamil Nadu as a major electronics hub in India, Krishnan said Chennai has become the locus of Apple Inc’s phone manufacturing in India by pointing to large-scale investments made by the Cupertino-based firm’s contract manufacturers like Foxconn, Pegatron, Salcomp, and Flex in the state.
“Tatas are now commencing component manufacturing for Apple (and others). While Sriperumbudur near Chennai is a major hub for electronics, we want to take more companies to Hosur, Coimbatore, and Tiruchirapalli possibly. We also hope we can take these firms further down South,” Krishnan said.
While Foxconn and Pegatron assemble high-end flagship models of iPhones at their manufacturing units near Chennai, Salcomp produces chargers for Apple Inc and Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) will get into making platforms for mobile phones at its massive electronics ecosystem in Hosur, just outside Bengaluru.
Besides TEPL, Hosur is also home to several electronics manufacturers including Taiwan’s Delta Electronics. Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri is also being projected as the EV hub by the Tamil Nadu government.
The bureaucrat said TN likes to play on both of its human resources strength in attracting investments in the electronics sector – while such firms provide large-scale employment to youngsters in the state, the potential for higher order employment in the field of electronic design is also high due to a large number of people possessing high skill sets.
“Like how we became an automobile manufacturing hub by slowly building on the auto component manufacturing ecosystem, we would like to move upstream from electronics component manufacturing to sophisticated electronic manufacturing,” Krishnan said, adding that such a strategy will also help a large number of MSMEs.
Organized by the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA), the theme of this year’s expo is Deep Manufacturing In the ESDM space – Towards Making India a One-Stop Sourcing Hub. “The event will see the participation of 500 companies from across the globe. The expo will also have 150 plus exhibitors and 50 buyers,” Sasikumar Gendham, Managing Director of Salcomp India and vice-president, ELCINA, said.