India has smartphone screen protector capacity in place, now it needs to shut out substandard imports: MeitY Secy

India has enough domestic capacity to make smartphone screen protectors and must ensure substandard imports do not undercut local manufacturers, Electronics and Information Technology Secretary S Krishnan said on Thursday, a day after the government brought the product under mandatory quality norms.

“We now have enough production capacity in the country for this category of equipment,” Krishnan said on the sidelines of the ‘India 3.0: The Next Tech Leap’ event in New Delhi. He said preventing the dumping of substandard products was important to protect the market for quality screen protectors made in India.

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The comments come after the government brought smartphone screen protectors under the compulsory registration framework for electronics and IT goods. The new requirement will make compliance with the prescribed Indian Standard mandatory from April 1, 2027, giving manufacturers and other entities until March 31, 2027 to transition.

The move effectively puts quality compliance at the centre of a market where the government sees domestic manufacturing capacity emerging. Krishnan said the priority now was to ensure that cheaper, low-quality imports do not squeeze Indian manufacturers that have built capacity in the segment.

The government has said the compulsory registration requirement was introduced in the public interest, with the products required to conform to the relevant Indian Standard once the rules take effect.

The policy shift could also give a boost to companies expanding local production. Optiemus Infracom, for instance, has set up a screen protector facility in Noida in partnership with US-based Corning and is working to add capacity, according to an ET report.

From FOMO to actual investment

Krishnan also said sentiment across India’s electronics and semiconductor ecosystem was moving from early-stage interest to concrete investment plans.

“Last year everyone had a sense of FOMO that they had to be here. This year they are actually making commitments,” he said, referring to companies discussing planned investments, applications and how they intend to expand their presence in India.

He said the government was also seeing more industry-to-industry engagement, with companies sharing feedback on investment plans and progress.

India does not need to make everything

Krishnan said the global electronics industry’s push to diversify supply chains away from dependence on a single manufacturing base presented an opportunity for India.

But he cautioned against trying to build every part of the electronics value chain domestically.

“You don't try to do everything in house,” he said, adding that India should instead build a large enough share of the value chain to become indispensable to global supply chains.

On semiconductors, Krishnan called the industry “strategic and foundational” and said India should initially focus on legacy nodes, where its current manufacturing capabilities and fiscal capacity make entry more feasible. He said the research and development focus under ISM 2.0 could eventually help India build capabilities in leading-edge nodes and niche technologies.

(With inputs from ANI)