The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : IPCA seeks Government support to bridge demand-supply gap

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Friday, Sep 22, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

IPCA seeks Government support to bridge demand-supply gap

Special Correspondent

IPCA Expo 2006 inaugurated; demand for printed circuit boards put at Rs. 2,800 cr.

WARM WELCOME: Science and Technology Minister Ramachandra Gowda (left) greeting Denny Megurik (right), president IPC, U.S., at the inauguration of IPCA Expo 2006 in Bangalore on Thursday. David, vice-president, IPC, U.S., Mukund L. Shaw, president, I PCA, and Sutter of EIPC are seen. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

Bangalore: With nearly Rs. 1,500 crore worth printed circuit boards (PCBs) being imported annually into India, the Indian Printed Circuit Association (IPCA) is seeking support from the Government to create a substantial manufacturing base here to bridge the demand-supply situation.

At the inauguration of the three-day "IPCA Expo 2006" here on Thursday, IPCA president Mukund L. Shah said the demand for PCBs and other allied products was Rs. 2,800 crore.

In this background, it was imperative to develop a globally competitive Indian PCB industry and business and to be part of the growing electronic hardware industry.

Indian market for electronic products had been growing at the rate of 30 per cent per annum and it was projected to exceed $ 75 billion by 2010 and $ 150 billion by 2015 from the $ 25 billion at present in terms of international trade and technology.

Mr. Shah said this offered an excellent opportunity for the PCB industry to grow and expand here to become an international hub. India had been gaining in stature with regard to quality of the PCB industry, backed by strong research and development capabilities.

The PCB industry should step up its scale of operation to meet the demanding national and international standards and the Government had to support the industry.

The world electronics hardware market is $ 1,400 billion with 44 per cent accounted for by Asia Pacific of which China takes a major share. China's electronic hardware market has grown at 36 per cent and 28.6 per cent in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

The PCB industry is capital intensive and the ratio of capital employed to turnover is 1:1.

There are a little over 10 companies regularly exporting their products and a few international players have set up plants in India.

To meet the demand-supply gap, an investment of over Rs. 1,500 crore is required now and Rs. 1,000 crore every year for the next five years.

Though the Indian PCB industry produces international quality products, the Chinese have been pricing their products five per cent to 10 per cent lower than Indian products. India imports mostly from China.

IPCA secretary general R. Chellappa urged the Government to provide land for the IPCA to put up a permanent office in Bangalore, a major city for manufacture of electronics products.

Inaugurating the expo, Minister for Science and Technology Ramachandra Gowda acknowledged that information technology, electronics, biotechnology, etc., had the potential to generate not just revenues but also employment and the Government would support such investments. To the specific request of the association for a building, Mr. Ramachandra Gowda said that the proposal would be put up before the Chief Minister.

The three-day expo has over 100 companies from India and overseas participating. Companies from China, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S. and some important European countries have put up stalls.

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