AP ideal destination for electronics manufacturing

Ticking Up

- AP home to over 20% of electronics manufacturers in India

- One mobile is manufactured every second in the State

- AP ranks 5th in employability in India

- Ensures round-the-clock power and continuous water supply

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh is the only State to have four world-class electronics manufacturing clusters (EMCs). Apart from EMC 1 and 2 at Tirupati and EMC in Sri City, YSR EMC at Kopparthi is the first EMC in India sanctioned under EMC 2.0 scheme.

AP government aims to attract Rs10,000-crore investments at Kopparthi EMC and create employment opportunities to 30,000 persons here.

In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, M Nanda Kishore Reddy, Group CEO of AP Electronics and Information Technology Agency (APEITA) and MD of AP Technology Services (APTS), said that the EMC in Kopparthi already has grounded investments of about Rs603 crore by five electronics manufacturing companies - AIL Dixon Technologies, Digicon Solutions LLP (JV of Karbonn, Celkon and Resolute), Celkon Resolute Electronics LLP (JV of Celkon and Resolute), Chandrahas Enterprises, UTNPL (JV of Karbonn and Neolync). These firms have committed to bring employment opportunities to around 7,391 persons. In coming six months, more MoUs will be signed with proposals to create 7,000 -10,000 jobs.

About 104.67-acre land is being developed as part of the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSME) Cluster Development Park, with a project cost of Rs22.03 crore. Harmony City (UTL Group) has proposed to invest Rs1,800 crore to develop social infrastructure here and create 500 jobs. Kopparthi EMC is strategically located adjacent to mega industrial hubs, and most importantly close to consumption centers like Chennai and Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It offers a combination of fastest production timelines and cheapest production costs. More than 540 acre land is available here. It provides 100 per cent of FCI as incentive through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme of AP government, dovetailing into the Centre's PLI scheme.

The incentive rate is up to 5 per cent on incremental sales over base year. In addition to the PLI incentive, investors can also choose incentives under the operational expenses. The EMC has come up with a tailor-made incentive package for mega projects with Investment of over Rs500 crore or employment to more than 4,000 persons. The incentive installment would be disbursed after firm has been in production for at least one financial year.

EMC 1 and 2 at Tirupati have already emerged as an important electronics manufacturing hub since 2018. Television panel manufacturer TCL; world's number 1 ODM, Wingtech; Israel-based Neolyncs have benefited immensely by choosing the homegrown EMS company

Dixon is expanding their operations from Tirupati, which is a hot destination for Taiwanese and Chinese investments in India. EMC at Sri City, near Tada emerged as the favourite destination for companies in the last few years, with its proximity to Chennai and Krishnapatanam Ports coupled with excellent infrastructure. The EMCs in AP are strategically located along major industrial corridors

They provide world-class connectivity to major ports (Krishnapatnam & Chennai) and airports (Tirupati, Chennai & Bangalore), and proximity to large domestic consumption centers – Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad. AP ranks fifth in employability in the country as per India Skills Report 2021. Round-the-clock power and continuous water supply from water sources nearby industrial parks also enabled more electronics manufacturing companies to setup their base here. One mobile is manufactured every second in the State. It is home to more than 20 per cent of electronics manufacturers in India.