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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026

 

--IT secy: India needs some sovereign autonomy on technology 

--IT secy:India's opportunity lies in diversification of global supply chain 

--IT secy: Vital for India to have presence in semiconductor industry 

--IT secy: Eyeing larger share in export markets under mobile mfg scheme 

 

NEW DELHI – Given the strong smartphone penetration in India and relatively long replacement time, the domestic market for mobile phones may not grow significantly, making exports a crucial area of focus. Therefore, while sustaining the domestic market and seeing premiumisation at home, bagging a larger share of the export markets is one of the key objectives under India's roadmap for the mobile manufacturing industry, according to secretary of Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology S. Krishnan. "In some ways, mobile manufacturing (Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme) supports that roadmap," Krishnan said, adding that another objective of the scheme is to make space for Indian mobile brands in overseas markets. 

 

According to Krishnan, the use of semiconductors is increasing in electronic devices, making it vital for India to have a presence in this industry. India is growing and will continue to grow as a consumer of these electronic devices, which makes it important to have some semiconductor production at home, he said. 

 

Krishnan added that India did not leapfrog in semiconductor manufacturing because one needs to have reasonable bets amid competing demands and build in a logical and rational manner. "Based on what our fiscal capacity is and on where our level of sophistication of advanced manufacturing stands today, it is easier for us to first enter in the legacy nodes and create a presence. As a market, that also makes sense because many other leading countries in the semiconductor space have vacated this legacy node space."

 

Krishnan believes India needs some degree of "sovereign autonomy" in terms of technology, meaning while the country is open to the latest the world has to offer, it needs to build sufficient capacity at home to be able to survive in the event the global access is denied.  "You need to have a significant role in the value chain. I mean, it is what one could call in today's world, mutual disruption. So that can actually cause the disruption if it really comes to it," he said. Globally, countries are diversifying their supply chains and that is where opportunity for India lies, Krishnan said. End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Shakshi Jain

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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