Consumer Electronics Industry Body CEAMA organizes its first annual summit ACE Dialogues 2015 - ‘Make in India’ - ‘A Reality’

Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), the apex Industry Chamber for the consumer durables industry in India, organized the first annual edition of ACE Dialogues 2015, an annual knowledge platform. The initiative aims to provide a platform for leaders to collaborate on issues and subjects that the business environment today pivots on. It shall also generate powerful ideas around the theme identified to manage the future course of action aligning stakeholders around that vision. The theme for this year’s summit was ‘Make in India’ - ‘A Reality’ to deliberate upon on various challenges and opportunities on ‘Make in India’ from the industry perspective.

Present at the summit were Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP;  B.N Satpathy, Senior Advisor, NITI Ayog, Vinay Raghunath, Partner, Advisory Services, EY India; Vinod Sharma, Chairman ICTE CII & Managing Director, Deki Electronics;  Manish Sharma, President CEAMA and Managing Director Panasonic India & South Asia;  Ravinder Zutshi, Past President, CEAMA & Former Managing Director, Samsung India;  Eric Braganza, Honorary Secretary, CEAMA & President Haier Appliances India;  Sunil Vachani, Vice President, CEAMA, CMD Dixon Technologies who discussed, debated and shared information to manage the future course of action aligning stakeholders around the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The panel discussed the ease of doing business and attracting business in India, various taxation related issues, challenges in the end-to-end manufacturing value chain including component ecosystem in the country and how can it impact the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the skilled labour availability concerns and support infrastructure bottlenecks in the country. The panel also discussed industry’s concerns around expanding their domestic manufacturing under the “Make in India” initiative.

Speaking on the occasion, Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP said, “India needs to achieve higher growth trajectory and the Government is committed towards the same. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister has been stressing on ‘Make in India’ and there is a need to increase domestic manufacturing in the sector of Electronics, as this segment has been contributing to the Current Account Deficit of the country. The Indian Consumer Electronics market has traditionally been a “high spend,” priority sector which accounts for more than 40% of end consumer spending in India. India has the potential to develop and manufacture Electronics Hardware for the global markets and gain higher global share besides meeting the country’s future requirement. So the way forward for electronics industry is a healthy relationship between the Govt. & the industry to put India in a strong, dominant position in the global electronics map. I appreciate CEAMA’s efforts to put together this discussion in a format wherein all of us could deliberate on how we can drive the ‘Make in India’ initiative towards a reality”

As a part of the summit, CEAMA in collaboration with EY India presented a white paper on “Tackling structural issues for Appliances and Consumer Electronics (ACE) manufacturing to become a reality” which highlighted the possible solutions to the current set of challenges and opportunities faced by the Industry and, chart out a roadmap for the success of the ‘Make in India’ initiative. EY report provides an analysis of the current economic growth drivers, comparison with best international practices and recommendations to the government.

Sharing his views on the initiative, Manish Sharma, President, CEAMA and Managing Director, Panasonic India and South Asia said, “The industry is confident that the impact of ‘Make in India’ will propel the country into the global arena as a potential manufacturing hub. However, in order to translate PM's dream of into a workable reality, we need to address the various roadblocks that stand in its way. With the focus on the ‘Make in India’ campaign, we look forward to an era of creating integrated value chain, under-developed component ecosystem, and infrastructure & taxation policy. We must work towards creating an environment in order to provide a holistic growth of the industry and create a level playing field for companies across the spectrum.” He further added, “Considering the rapidly growing consumer durable segment and avenues for the manufacturers to invest in India market, ACE Dialogues 2015 - ‘Make in India’ -   ‘A Reality’ will provide a road map and bridge the gap between the Government’s intent and industry’s commitment to reach a practical solution required to make Indian home appliance and consumer electronic industry highly competitive.”

Talking about the report, Vinay Raghunath, Partner, Advisory Services, EY India said,” The growing consumer electronics and appliances market in India presents an attractive opportunity to manufacturers. Moreover, the Government of India’s recent “Make in India” initiative has provided fresh impetus to this sector. In this report, we seek to provide an insight into India’s consumer electronics and appliances market, focusing on the domestic market, growth drivers and current supply ecosystem. Further, this report delves into the structural challenges faced by India’s consumer electronics and appliances industry. EY has partnered with CEAMA to put forward recommendations to the government on providing an impetus to this sector’s manufacturing segment.”

With the Consumer Electronics sector expected to grow rapidly by the end of next five year plan, avenues will open for manufacturers to invest in India market. Companies are looking at increasing their manufacturing base in India to serve domestic markets and also the Middle East, Africa and SAARC countries. However, to ensure that this momentum keeps pace, the industry and the Govt. need to work together, to make the Indian home appliance and consumer electronics industry highly competitive. CEAMA has been striving to create a common platform for the government and the industry to come together on the possible solutions to the current set of challenges and opportunities. The summit provided an opportunity to the panelists to reflect upon the obstacles and chart out a roadmap for the success of the Make in India initiative.