India will be $360 bln hardware market in next 10 yrs

New Delhi, Sep 10 (UNI) The Indian electronics equipment market will touch 360 billion dollars from the present level of less than 30 billion dollars in the next ten years, making it a global hardware hub, experts says.

''Hardware manufacturing has lagged far behind software and services due to lack of supportive eco-system. The scenario is undergoing rapid change with the shifting of focus towards manufacturing,'' Mr Om Wadhwa, Chairman of Elcomp India Organising Committee, which conducted a research on the subject, says.

Indian imports of semiconductor products stand at Rs 2,000-2,500 crore, with the total production of Rs 1,200 crore.

The three billion dollar semiconductor facility in Hyderabad will meet the rising demands of the semiconductor devices, he adds.

In recent years, market growth has been accelerating exponentially in computers/IT products and telecom. This has attracted large corporates to invest in hardware and Indian electronics manufacturing. India is well on its way to becoming a hardware manufacturing hub, says Mr Wadhwa.

Japan, Singapore and Thailand have shifted their attention towards India and are planning for joint ventures to set up manufacturing units here.

In this direction, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Electronics Industry Association of India and Association of Electronics Industry of Singapore.

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