71 Mobile Manufacturing Units In India in Last 7-yrs, Odisha Dials ZERO

No smart news for Odisha. Mobile phone manufacturers are yet to dial 'Invest' in the State. The country has seen the setting up of 71 mobile phone manufacturing/ assembling units in 11 different states since 2014. But the tally in Odisha stands at ZERO.

What sounds like a big shocker for Odisha is when the State government claims that it has the combo of abundant skilled manpower and ready electronics infrastructure for manufacturing mobile phones in the State, the investment fails to materialise in the State.

The economic significance of mobile manufacturing units in Odisha can well be ascertained from the following fact.

The big ringing truth for Odisha is while the metallurgical sector (State's mainstay industries) could see the creation of around 66, 000 jobs per one lakh crore investment,  the mobile phone manufacturing sector generates around 40,000 with only one-third of the investment of that of the metal sector.

Mobile Manufacturing Foot Print In India

As per the data available with Union Electronics and IT Ministry, Uttar Pradesh leads the table in the country with a high of 18 mobile manufacturing/assembling units. It is followed by Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh with 5 units is ranked 6th in the country.

Odisha's No Show

Data shows Odisha has been sanctioned with one Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC). The scorecard on display seems poor. To date, it has attracted investments worth a meagre Rs 264 crore and had generated jobs for a handful of 300 only.

In contrast, the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has 4 EMCs. Like Odisha's IDCO, 3 are run by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd. (APIIC). But the difference is ...

• Andhra Pradesh's EMCs attracted investments to the tune of Rs 6,309 cr.
• The 3-govt run EMCs have generated jobs for 9,672 youths.
• While Odisha saw the generation of nearly 113 jobs per Rs 100 cr investment, Andhra Pradesh created 153 jobs per Rs 100 cr investment.

The Drag-on Factor In Odisha

The Odisha Electronics Policy 2020 has offered all the incentives that were offered by Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. A comparative analysis of the policy documents of the three states shows no difference. Still, the investments are ringing in UP and AP, not in Odisha.

Closer scrutiny of the policy documents sheds light on the glaring differences.

• The Odisha Policy speaks only about the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) set up at Infovalley in Bhubaneswar and about 800 acres area at Naraj( under planning stage) to promote electronics manufacturing in the State.

What does The AP Policy say?

• Visakhapatnam is to be established as a major electronics hub, with the development of the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR)
• Electronics Hardware Park to be set up at Kakinada (East Godavari)
• Development of 20 Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs)
• Common Facilities Centre for all identified electronic hubs
• Nellore, Chittoor, Visakhapatnam, and Krishna designated as brownfield Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs)
• Incubation centres in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, and Tirupati
• Announced an initiative to establish 'Electronic Baazars' to facilitate government to business, business to business, business to government and business to consumer interactions.
• Also spelt out the intention to improve the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) status through various reforms

What Is In UP Policy?

The Electronics Policy of  Uttar Pradesh talks about establishing three (3) EMCs focusing on mobile manufacturing, consumer durables, telecom, IT hardware, medical equipment, defence etc. in various parts of the state such as:

• Electronic City in Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) near Jewar airport, Gautam Budh Nagar
• Defence electronics manufacturing cluster in Bundelkhand
• Medical electronics manufacturing cluster in Lucknow-Unnao-Kanpur Zone

The Bottom line: While the incentive part of the policy document looks like a mirror image of each other, the scale and size of the nuances in policy described above are greatly missing in Odisha's policy - which makes all the difference, feel experts.