Department of IT (DIT) Renamed Department of Electronics & IT (DeitY)

200 Elctronic Manufacturing Clusters by 2020, to Employ Around 28 Million People: Sibal

The Minister of Communications & IT Kapil Sibal has said that India’s Electronic Sector aims to achieve a turnover of about USD 400 Billion , involving investment of about USD 100 Billion and employment to around 28 million, by 2020. He said it is proposed to set up over 200 Electronic Manufacturing clusters and significantly upscale high-end human resource creation to 2500 PhDs annually by 2020 in the sector. Sh Sibal was presiding over a function in New Delhi today where the Department of IT (DIT), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, was officially rechristened Dept of Electronics & IT (DeitY).

Dwelling on the name change of the Department, Mr. Sibal said the introduction of electronics in the Department’s name is a signal of embarking on the development of electronics in the country, a journey which is essential to undertake if the country has to realize its dual objective of accelerating the growth momentum and enabling inclusive growth and development. The renaming of the Department of Information Technology as Department of Electronics and Information Technology is reflection of the thrust which Government provides to the electronics sector.

Mr. Sibal said the new National Policy on Electronics is under finalization, now that the process of widespread consultations is over. Its draft was released last October. He said the policy will provide a clear road map for the development of electronics sector in the country for the coming decade.

The Minister said the Ministry has already initiated several initiatives for the development of electronics sector in the country. India has become the hub for semiconductor design, generating nearly USD 2 Billion in revenues. He said the Government has, therefore, decided to set up semiconductor wafer fabrication facility in the country and the Cabinet has constituted an Empowered Committee to recommend technology and investors and incentives required to make the fabrication happen. In response to a global Expression of Interest some of the leading technology providers have shown interest in participating in the fabrication project. The Minister said the Government has also decided to provide preference to domestically manufactured electronic goods in all Government procurement as well as all those electronic goods whose usage has security implications for the country. The policy is expected to strengthen the cyber security ecosystem in the country as well as provide a boost to the domestic manufacturing.

Emphasising on developing human resource, Mr. Sibal said the Department is in the process of extending and expanding the Special Manpower Development Programme for VLSI and chip design . The Phase II of the programme which covered 32 institutions and generated 5400 BTech/MTech and PhDs in the high tech segment is ending in March 2013. Phase-III of the programme will encompass chip to system design and will cover approximately 50 institutions and target around 10,000 students including 300 PhDs.