The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Railways and Information and Broadcasting made the remarks at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Google Cloud India AI Hub in Visakhapatnam, a project carrying an estimated investment of $15 billion. The facility, planned with Adani ConneX and Airtel Nxtra, will include a 1GW hyperscale AI data centre, with about 600 acres allocated across Turluvada, Rambilli and Adavivaram in Andhra Pradesh.
Vaishnaw’s comments reflect a broader policy effort to shift India’s role from assembly-led electronics manufacturing to deeper participation in global technology supply chains. The government is seeking to build domestic capability across finished devices, modules, sub-modules, components, raw materials, tools and manufacturing machinery, a progression seen as essential for reducing import dependence and gaining a larger share of global production.
Mobile phones remain the strongest evidence of that transition. Electronics production has risen from about ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to about ₹11.3 lakh crore in 2024-25, while electronics exports climbed from about ₹38,000 crore to about ₹3.3 lakh crore over the same period. Mobile phone production expanded from about ₹18,000 crore to roughly ₹5.5 lakh crore, and mobile phone exports rose from about ₹1,500 crore to nearly ₹2 lakh crore, making the category one of the country’s most visible export successes.
Smartphones have become a leading export product, with Apple, Samsung, Tata Electronics, Foxconn, Dixon Technologies and other manufacturers playing prominent roles in the production ecosystem. The shift has been supported by the Production Linked Incentive scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, which helped attract global brands and contract manufacturers to expand capacity. The sector’s next phase, however, will depend less on assembly incentives and more on the availability of components, precision engineering, skilled labour, predictable taxation and faster logistics.
The Google Cloud project adds a digital infrastructure dimension to this manufacturing agenda. Vaishnaw urged global technology companies, including Google, to consider manufacturing servers, GPUs and chips in the country, arguing that the domestic data centre boom could create demand for high-value electronics and advanced computing hardware. Visakhapatnam is being positioned as an artificial intelligence hub, with subsea cable links expected to improve global connectivity through routes connecting Australia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the United States.
Semiconductors are the most strategic part of the plan. The India Semiconductor Mission has already helped draw investment into assembly, testing, marking and packaging facilities, chip design centres and fabrication proposals. Approved projects across several states include packaging units, display driver chip capacity and compound semiconductor facilities. The sector remains capital-intensive and technologically demanding, and India is entering a field dominated by Taiwan, South Korea, the United States, Japan, the Netherlands and China. Timelines, execution quality and ecosystem depth will determine whether the country can move beyond packaging and design services into higher-value production.
The government’s target of building a $500 billion domestic electronics ecosystem by 2030-31 is ambitious. It requires not only export-led growth but also a domestic supplier base for printed circuit boards, camera modules, batteries, displays, sensors, connectors, power electronics and semiconductor materials. Without local component depth, headline export gains can mask high import content, limiting value addition and leaving manufacturers exposed to currency swings and global supply disruptions.
Industry executives have generally welcomed the policy focus but continue to point to operational challenges. High logistics costs, customs procedures, dependence on imported inputs, limited component clusters, power quality, land acquisition delays and uneven state-level implementation remain constraints. Global companies also compare India with Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia and Thailand when allocating production, making policy certainty and execution speed critical.
Labour availability is one of India’s advantages. Electronics manufacturing has generated large-scale employment, including substantial hiring of young women in assembly lines and component facilities. This has helped states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat compete for investment. Yet sustained growth will require improvements in industrial training, factory housing, transport, safety standards and career progression, particularly as production moves from assembly to precision manufacturing.
Geopolitics has created an opening. Companies are diversifying supply chains because of trade tensions, tariff risks, pandemic-era disruptions and concerns over concentration in China. India’s democratic institutions, large market, engineering talent and improving infrastructure make it a credible candidate for “China plus one” strategies. The challenge is to convert interest into anchored manufacturing networks that include suppliers, tooling companies, testing labs, logistics providers and research partnerships.
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