Electronics manufacturing now employs 2.5 million in India : Ashwini Vaishnaw

The electronics manufacturing sector currently employs 2.5 million people, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.

Speaking at the inauguration of Optiemus Infracom's manufacturing facility for tempered glass in Noida, Vaishnaw said the country is working on bringing home the manufacturing of each component that goes into a mobile phone device.

The Noida facility would churn out chemically treated tempered glass Engineered by Corning, a technology developed by global component major Corning Incorporated.


This will be sold in the $1 billion domestic market, which is set to double in the next 5 years, as well as be exported, Ashok Gupta, Executive Chairman of Optiemus said.

The facility features an initial investment of Rs. 70 crore. Its phase 1 will have an installed capacity of 25 million units per annum, generating direct employment for over 600 people. In phase 2, capacity will be scaled yo to 200 million units per annum, with an additional investment of INR 800 crore – creating over 4,500 direct job opportunities.

"Our aspiration is that every Indian mobile phone user must use a Make in India tempered glass with BIS certification and fog marking to protect their screen.” Gupta said.

Corning cover glasses soon

The Minister said global component major Corning would begin manufacturing the cover glass for mobile phones at its Chennai plant by December.

The Chennai plant will do the finishing of display glass covers, Sudhir N Pillai, Managing Director and President - India, Middle East and Africa said. It is a joint venture between Corning and Optiemus, he said.

Vaishnaw also said manufacturers have begun exporting power train equipment to Italy, Spain, Portugal and other markets.