'Make in India' initiative reduces electronic imports in FY24: Report
What's the story
Thanks to the 'Make in India' initiative and growing localization, electronic imports have dropped significantly in the fiscal year 2023-2024. This trend is seen among leading electronics companies like Samsung, Apple, Whirlpool, Dixon, and Havells. According to The Economic Times, the drop could be unprecedented. The total import value of eight electronics firms declined by 7% year-on-year (YoY) in FY24 to ₹95,143 crore.
Stats
A 1st in 6 fiscal years
Notably, the decline in imports in FY24 is the first such instance in at least six fiscal years. Industry insiders believe this could be a one-off, considering the consumer electronic industry's dependence on imports in the past. The combined import value of these firms had crossed ₹1 lakh crore in FY22 and increased further in FY23 before declining this year.
Localization impact
Rise in local manufacturing of critical components
Sunil Vachani, Chairman of Dixon Technologies, emphasized the rise in local production. He said, "Value addition in India has become high in home appliances like refrigerators, ACs and washing machines where all critical components like compressors, motors, sheet metal, heat exchangers are now locally manufactured." This move toward domestic production has played a role in the decline of imports.
Performance
Major electronics firms report import declines
Data indicates that the Indian arms of Samsung and Apple reported over 7% YoY decline in imports owing to their localization strategies. Whirlpool saw a major 22% drop, while Haier and Amber's import value stayed almost the same.
PLI impact
PLI scheme boosts electronics manufacturing
The government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing got a major boost in the interim Budget in February with a nearly 1.5x increase, taking its outlay to ₹6,200 crore for 2024-2025. Last year, 27 firms including Dell, HP, Foxconn and Lenovo were approved for the PLI scheme for IT hardware as announced by Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.