Much as Narendra Modi would like the ‘Make in India’ campaign to gather momentum, it is unlikely that international imaging companies present in India will follow the dictum.

Unlike the rest of the consumer electronics category, where international players have set up assembling units and are engaged in part manufacturing, Japanese camera majors like Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Sony will continue to source their imaging products from their subsidiaries based in Thailand and China.

Even the recent imposition of import duties on the category has not had international players changing their strategy. Lack of a significant camera market is being cited as the main reason for the Japanese majors to shirk the idea of setting up a manufacturing base.

“The category of compact cameras is not growing, and is limited at just 15 lakh units in India. Since demand is not expanding, it does not make sense at the moment to start manufacturing here.

“We will continue to import our cameras from our manufacturing bases in Thailand and China,” said Hiroshi Takashina, Managing Director, Nikon India.

Unfavourable labour laws While demand for compact cameras has been impacted primarily due to the growth of smartphones, labour laws in India have also not been conducive for international camera majors to set up base in the country.

Most also cite lack of skills in making high-end cameras as another hurdle.

Canon India has also been importing its cameras from its subsidiaries based in Vietnam, China and Thailand. “There is no reason for us to start manufacturing in India. We will continue to source the cameras from our global supply chain.

The decision to start manufacturing in India will depend on our management based in Japan, and we will evaluate the possibility only if there is a need to do so,” said Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice President, Canon India.

The imposition of import duties too is no hurdle. “All these years, cameras have had zero per cent import duty, but now they have imposed 10 per cent import duty.

We have been requesting the Indian government to re-consider its decision, and also that the category should not be clubbed with movie cameras,” added Takashina.

Brand ambassadors Unlike compact cameras, however, the professional or Digital SLR segment has been registering growth, ensuring that manufacturers invest behind high profile brand ambassadors.

While Sony has Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra has been endorsing Nikon for the past four years.

“This year, we spent ₹120 crore on advertising, as the DSLR segment is growing between 20 to 30 per cent. We expect to sell two lakh units this year, with a 55 per cent share in the category,” said Takashina.

Correction

This copy has been modified to correct the designation of Alok Bharadwaj. He is Executive Vice President of Canon India, not CEO as stated in a previous version. Also, a reference to Anushka Sharma as brand ambassador for Canon has been removed. She has not been brand ambassador for the past one year.

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