New Delhi [India], October 3 (ANI): Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary S Krishnan said that the overwhelming and massive response to Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) reflects strong industry confidence in India's policy framework and the government's ability to deliver on large-scale industrial programs.

'We just wanted to inform that the total applications received and the total investment that has been committed under the scheme is almost twice what had originally been targeted,' he told ANI on Thursday.

The scheme had originally targeted investment of a little above Rs 59,000 crore, but final proposals have reached around Rs 1.18 lakh crore. Production targets have also been significantly exceeded.

The scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet in April of 2025 and the ministry opened up the scheme for applications. The last date for receipt of applications under the scheme was 30th of September.

'We had targeted the overall production base at about Rs 2.12 lakh crore and the final number of the overall additional production is coming to in excess of Rs 4.5 lakh crore,' Krishnan added.

He described the response as massive, with interest from industry being tremendous, indicating growing trust in India's policy environment.

'This reflects the confidence that they have in government's policies and policy stability and the ability to implement schemes of this nature,' he said.

The secretary said that it also reflects the confidence that investors have (both domestic investors and foreign investors) on India's growth story and the ability to continue to invest, particularly in the electronics manufacturing sector.

When asked whether the industry is facing challenges, Krishnan acknowledged that competitiveness remains a constant pressure.

'The challenge in the industry is always there. I mean, we have to be globally competitive and which basically means that we have to get everything right,' he added.

The secretary stressed on the need of right policy, right ecosystem to enable the manufacturing take off.

Despite these challenges, he said the scale of committed investment shows that companies are confident India can overcome such issues.

'The fact that investors are willing to commit investments on this scale reflects that they are very confident that the challenges can be overcome and India is a good location to actually manufacture,' he said.

Talking on the progress in the sector of semiconductors, he said that the country's Semicon India program has also seen full allocation of its planned funding.

'We have cleared 10 schemes of investment and then a further three. So totally 13 schemes which have been cleared for investment,' Krishnan said.

Almost the entire investable resources that has been committed under the Semicon scheme -- Rs 76,000 crore -- has got committed now, he said adding that 'almost the entire amount is committed.'

Krishnan confirmed that the ministry is now working on a second phase of the scheme on semiconductors.

'We are working on the next phase of the Semicon scheme and the process of inter-ministerial consultation is on and we will get the relevant approvals and launch the new scheme.'

Krishnan also underlined international support for India's semiconductor manufacturing ambitions and said that India is part of various global arrangements.

'We have good MOUs. We have an agreement called TRUST with the United States. We have a TSI agreement with the UK. We have a semiconductor MOU with the EU and also a semiconductor MOU with Japan.'

He said India's foreign partners are supporting the country in its dream to attain self-reliance in the production of semiconductors.

'Our global partners are with us in our quest to manufacture semiconductors in India,' he concluded. (ANI)