India should focus on reducing its dependence on import of electronic goods and create state-of-the-art capabilities to cater to world's growing markets, Union Minister Y S Chowdary today said.
Inaugurating the second edition of India Electronics Expo, Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Chowdary said India's hardware exports pales into insignificance as compared to computer software and services exports which stand at over 100 billion USD.
In the backdrop of Parliament passing the Aadhaar bill, he said, coupled with Make in India, Digital India and Skill India initiatives, the Aadhaar platform would not only connect the entire country but also sort out a host of governance issues and bring over one billion Indians to the mainstream.
"Our focus should be on import substitution and generating state-of-the-art capabilities to cater to the world's growing markets," he said.
Referring to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Chowdary said manufacturing of electronics goods and components is ideally suited to them.
"Electronics industry can flourish under the hub-and- spoke scheme... SME clusters can come up near major electronics manufacturing units. It would proliferate entrepreneurship and generate gainful employment," he said.
The Expo is organised by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council and sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Thirty-three exhibitors from India are displaying their products and over 120 delegates from 17 countries are scouting for products at the event.
