Tamil Nadu is well positioned to achieve a $100-billion electronics system design and manufacturing industry in the next five years.

As global companies are leveraging the well-developed manufacturing system in the State, Tamil Nadu has emerged as one of the major electronics hardware manufacturing and exporting States in the country, said the State Industry Secretary S Krishnan.

“The growth rate of the electronics industry is around 14 per cent. I only expect that to grow faster. Tamil Nadu should hopefully be about 25-30 per cent of the country’s overall electronics industry which is expected to be around $300 billion in the next five years,” he said.

India’s presence in the global electronics value chain is very crucial, and also Tamil Nadu’s role within the country, he said at a press meet organised by Electronics Industries Association of India (ELCINA) to announce the 12th Source India Summit.

The event is a B2B platform to be held in the city on February 13 and 14 to accelerate the growth of Indian electronics hardware manufacturing. The two day event will discuss the challenges the electronic industry and major industry stakeholders are facing, says a release.

The electronics industry is crucial for Tamil Nadu’s growth story. Besides providing large scale employment, this industry has a significant role to play as it can employ highly educated human resources having qualifications like Ph.D. or M.Tech.

“We are very keen that this sector grows,” he said.

Another major area that offers opportunities for Tamil Nadu is electronic components sector. This is similar to what the State did in the automobile sector.

The strength of State initially was in the auto component sector and then it moved upstream. Similarly, there is a distinct possibility of using the electronic component sector to move upstream in to sophisticated electronics parts and design.

“This is a low risk and low investment strategy. This is where a significantly larg proportion of companies, including MSMEs, have participated,” he said.