Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Electronic manufacturing cluster soon in Vizag

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, June 2, 2013: An Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) would come up in the Visakhapatnam district, at a cost of Rs 200 cr, which can boost the local economy and generate employment for people in and around the city.

The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) had already sent a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the concerned authorities for their approval for setting up the EMC. In all probability the DPR will be finalized by the union telecom and IT ministry in a couple of months.

APIIC which is the nodal agency to develop EMCs in the state had identified around 100 acres near Jaganandhapuram in Parawada in the district. Of the Rs 200 cr needed to develop the cluster union government would extend the financial assistance of about Rs 50 cr.  And the remaining would be borne by the state agencies. It needs around Rs 114 cr only to create infrastructure for the EMC.

As part of under National Telecom Policy 2012, Vizag, Srikakulam and Ranga Reddy districts were identified in the state to get four EMCs. Ranga Reddy district would get two such clusters.

Taking a cue from China and Taiwan, where  government provide support for electronic manufacturing companies, union government had decided to set up these clusters in the backdrop of software exports coming under increasing pressure due to slowdown in the largest economies.

Under the EMC scheme the government will provide aid to special purpose vehicles to set up such clusters. At present, the size of the electronics industry in the country is estimated at $45 billion and according to the union government it is expected to go up to $400 billion by 2020, almost 10 times more.


“We have already earmarked 100 acres in Parawada which can accommodate around 20 to 25 electronics manufacturing companies. Plots are divided into sizes of one acre to 5 acres. Since the land is already in the possession of the APIIC we can issue a notification calling for interested parties as soon as we get approval from the union government for the DPR we have submitted recently. Two clusters in Ranga Reddy district are at the advanced stage of completion. After Vizag we will begin work at Srikakulam,” APIIC zonal manager, Yethiraj told this correspondent.

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