‘The electronics manufacturing industry currently generates approximately 25 lakh jobs’: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said India’s electronics push is adding both jobs and components, and that the sector now employs 2.5 million people.

He was in Noida on August 30 to inaugurate Optiemus Infracom’s tempered glass manufacturing unit.

"Just as the tempered glass manufacturing plant has begun operations today, we will soon see 'made in India' chips as well. The electronics manufacturing industry is shaping up well and currently generates approximately 25 lakh jobs," Vaishnaw said.

Optiemus Infracom’s tempered glass manufacturing unit

The plant is the first in India to make chemically treated tempered glass for smartphones. It has been set up with an initial outlay of Rs 70 crore.

Phase one is designed for 25 million units annually, employing over 600 people.

According to Optiemus, the second phase will scale capacity to 200 million units with a further Rs 800 crore investment, creating more than 4,500 direct jobs.

Ashok Gupta, executive chairman of Optiemus, disclosed that the company is targeting India’s $1 billion tempered glass market, which is expected to double within five years.

“Our aspiration is that every Indian smartphone user must have a Make in India tempered glass with BIS certification,” he said.

Corning, the global glass leader that has partnered with Optiemus, will begin manufacturing mobile cover glass at its Chennai facility by December.

Corning India MD Sudhir N Pillai told reporters on the sidelines of the event that the plant, a joint venture, will handle the finishing of display covers.

Vaishnaw said the government’s strategy is to localise every key mobile phone component and that Indian manufacturers have begun shipping power train equipment to markets in Europe, including Italy, Spain and Portugal.

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