Shri Praful Patel, Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, here today launched the ‘Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2022’. The Mission Plan seeks to steer, coordinate and synergise the efforts of all stakeholders to accelerate and sustain the growth of the domestic electrical equipment industry. It identifies five key areas for action: (i) Industry competitiveness; (ii) Upgrading technology; (iii) Skill development; (iv) Promotion of exports; and (v) Conversion of latent demand. Detailed recommendations have been formulated for strategic and policy interventions in thesefive critical areas that need to be addressed by the industry, with support from the government. The Mission Plan envisages to make India the country of choice for the production of electrical equipment and reach an output of US $100 billion by balancing imports and exports. It has been evolved by the Department of Heavy industry through an elaborate exercise involving all stakeholders and with the support of the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA). Dr. Sutanu Behuria, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry and Shri Raj H. Easwaran, President-Elect, IEEMA, were also present on the occasion.
To carry forward the recommendations arising out of the Mission Plan, Inter-Ministerial Groups, comprising of representatives of the Department of Heavy Industry and other concerned Ministries / Departments, IEEMA, industry and other stakeholders will be constituted for monitoring the implementation of the recommendations and for periodic follow-up of its status.
To enhance industry competitiveness, the Mission Plan calls for providing a level playing field in the country to domestic electrical equipment manufacturers vis-à-vis foreign manufacturers, replacing the L1 criteria of procurement by power utilities in India with two part bidding, augmenting domestic testing facilities to cover the type testing of all equipment, mandating type testing of imported small equipment in Indian labs, supporting SMEs in technology up gradation and testing, standardisation of product ratings and specifications of electrical equipment, providing funds at globally competitive rates of interest to domestic manufacturers, establishing clusters of electrical and component manufacturers and providing them funds for technology up gradation.
For technology up gradation, the Mission Plan recommends a coordinated and collaborative effort by industries and utilities. For any R&D project, the user organisation or main beneficiary should be supported by the government for leading the research in a planned and committed manner. It also recommends public-private partnership (PPP) for fast development of new technology / systems.
Under skills development, it is suggested to set up a Sector Skill Council (SSC), which will undertake skill mapping and interact with the industry to provide training to the workers and also train the trainers / teachers, propose changes in curriculum, etc. It will also arrange for accreditation of the institutes and certification of the students. The Mission Plan calls for greater involvement of industry in the periodic review of the curriculum of technical institutes, summer training of students and for guest lectures by industry experts.
To boost exports of electrical equipment, the Mission Plan recommends providing policy support to domestic manufacturers to enhance their competitiveness in the global market and address issues of quality of the products, high transaction costs, non-recognition of test certificates of CPRI by some countries, high cost of production, high cost of finance, etc. The Mission Plan calls for more project specific lines of credit by the EXIM Bank to other countries with an emphasis on acceptance of equipment / material only from India for such projects.
To convert the latent demand for power in the country, the Mission Plan calls for timely completion of power generation projects and the downstream transmission projects for evacuation of power and improvement in the health of power distribution companies. It recommends the State Governments to acquire land, construct approach roads, and arrange construction power supply and other clearances, with the project developers reimbursing the costs. It suggests that urban areas with high aggregate technical & commercial losses be handed over to private sector on the input-based franchisee model with the provision for investment by the franchisee for system improvement, with the franchisee being asked to set up decentralised distribution-cum-generation (DDG) projects in identified rural areas.
Launching the Mission Plan, Shri Patel said that the Indian electrical industry has come a long way, with both big and small companies having contributed to its growth. He said that while making plans was the easier part, industry and the government needed to work in synergy to translate them into reality. He further said, “The Government’s positive intervention was required to give domestic industry the needed boost, specifying that the government would protect its own industry. This is the norm the world over, and we should not shy away from according preference to our industry. We have to look at the larger issues”. Shri Patel said that the industry and the Government together shared a huge responsibility to develop the economy and build the nation. The target of 8 to 9% GDP growth would be attainable if both worked together in that direction. He was confident that new products would continue to be developed and promised all cooperation from the government to the industry.
Shri Patel said, “while India’s electrical exports currently stood at a rather modest $ 5 billion, it is a matter of no small satisfaction that the country’s products are now being increasingly accepted and in demand in the global marketplace.” He said that it is imperative to build our own industry to make it competitive for its global growth and we should also look at ways and means to draw in more investment. The size of the sector is growing, and companies can pool their resources for investing in R&D for moving ahead.