New Delhi [India], November 17 (ANI): The Central government has approved applications under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) for another 17 applicants with a total investment of about Rs 7,172 crore, after nodding the first tranche of seven applicants a few days ago, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan said on Monday.

The details of the applicants, among others, will be announced shortly, the Secretary said at an event organised by ICEA.

'I think if we have to operate fast, the most important thing is if execution has to be quick, there has to be enough planning that needs to go into it. We have spent a lot more time on the drawing board as far as the ECMS scheme is concerned,' he told the applicants who have applied for ECMS.

'The basic objective is really to deepen the value chain in India, ensure that more electronics manufacturing takes place in India in terms of components. So that with deepened value chains, even as a part of a global value chain in electronics manufacture, we have enough deep roots so that tomorrow, if even our labour costs rise, it's not as if the industry will move out of here. We have an innate and inbuilt competitiveness. That is the basic objective with which this has been done. The idea is that the world itself is looking at diversification and resilience and India can truly emerge as part of a diversified and resilient value chain,' he added.

Through ECMS, the Secretary said the Indian industry would be able to look at other parts of electronics and not just mobile phones -- which are now about 45 per cent of the overall industry.

'So various other elements of electronics, whether it is auto electronics, whether it is medical electronics, other forms of consumer electronics, industrial electronics, all of them will benefit,' the secretary added.

He reiterated that speed is the key, as he again requested the applicants to hit the ground quickly.

'So quite honestly, that is one message to industry today that there is a limited pot of money, Rs 22,000 crore and all, and there are a number of applicants. There are 249 applicants. We are going to clear all of them, but who gets the money depends on how quickly you execute. So it is a race to the finish literally, in terms of not just getting an approval and working on it, but actually putting the project on the ground and making sure that production starts in order that you should be able to claim the subsidies that are available, the grants that are available under the scheme,' he noted.

'This is not a scheme built behind tariff walls or built behind protection. It's a scheme where we have to end up being competitive and being able to export, the components also, that we make, globally. So that is another important element.'

The ECMS scheme, approved by the Cabinet on May 1, 2025, with a fiscal outlay of Rs 22,919 crore, has received 249 applications with an anticipated investment commitment of Rs 115,351 crore.

The response is nearly double the targeted Rs 59,350 crore under the scheme. The estimated production of Electronics Components under the scheme in the next six years is projected at about Rs 10,34,700 crores, the government had said in a statement recently.

The government believes that the huge response will also translate into more direct and indirect jobs for the country's people. The application window was open for an initial period of three months, starting from May 1, 2025, and was subsequently extended till September 30, 2025. (ANI)