VOL XXIV, ISSUE 02

1st February 2023

• CUSTOM DUTY ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR ESDM SECTOR

• Extension on Customs duty exemption for following sl no. of Customs Notification No. 50/2017

Please click link for 50/2017 above to see items covered under above srl numbers.

• Important Notifications

• Notification No. 2/2023

• Notification No. 6/2023

Please download the Budget Highlights from this link.

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 INDUSTRY  SCAN                                                                           

General

Semiconductor shortage continues to impact production: Maruti Suzuki CFO

Maruti Suzuki India continues to witness an impact on its production as semiconductor supplies still remain challenging and unpredictable, according to the company's CFO Ajay Seth. In order to deal with the situation, the auto major is now working on ways to maximise its output from available supply of electronic components. Although the supply situation improved in the third quarter ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the second quarter of this fiscal, the country's largest carmaker could not produce around 46,000 units in the October-December period owing to the semiconductor shortage.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/, January 29, 2023

Gujarat’s Semiconductor Industry To Receive Additional Rs 75,000 Crore Boost

Gujarat’s semiconductor landscape is set to grow even larger and better following a $20 billion investment commitment by Vedanta-Foxconn, a joint venture between the Vedanta Group and Taiwanese chipmaker Foxconn. For a period of ten years, the government will provide subsidies for land acquisition, capital investment, stamp duty refunds, fixed water tariffs, and electricity tariff subsidies. Micron Technology, the US-based data storage device manufacturer, is in advance-level discussions with the state government to invest Rs 75,000 crore here, according to top state government sources. “However, in all likelihood, the project will come to Gujarat,” the source said. The centre has also notified four schemes to enable the development of sustainable semiconductors through the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), which provides Rs 76,000 crore to support projects.

Source: https://www.vibesofindia.com/, January 30, 2023

China's Secrets Unveiled of Leading the International EV Market in 2023

Although several countries like USA, India, and EU countries are joining hands to shatter the industrial growth of China, experts have now stated that the electric vehicle market of China is escalating every year and it’s massive. The growing market is expected to unleash some wonders in the coming years. Advisory firm Automobility told the media that a year back, around 27 percent of new cars sold in the country were electrified, which are either hybrids or complete electric cars. In spite of the harsh lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic and various other challenges affecting the financial growth and consumer sentiment, it is still an interesting time for the Chinese automobile industry backed by the government EV incentives and schemes, and the distinctive EV supply chain.

Source: https://circuitdigest.com/, January 27, 2023

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Information Technology

Visakhapatnam will become the shining star in the global IT sector, says MeitY Secretary

There is a good ecosystem, space and manpower for the growth of Information Technology in Visakhapatnam, and given the initiatives being taken by the State government, with the support of the Union government, the city will become a “shining star in the global IT sector,” opines Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Mr. Sharma, who was the chief guest at the inaugural of the two-day conference, ‘InfinITy Vizag 2023’, being organised by the IT Association of AP (ITAAP) here on Friday, said the objective of the Centre was to make India a $5 trillion economy in the next five years, and the target of the MeitY was to achieve $1 trillion through digital economy during the period. Mr. Sharma, who was the chief guest at the inaugural of the two-day conference, ‘InfinITy Vizag 2023’, being organised by the IT Association of AP (ITAAP) here on Friday, said the objective of the Centre was to make India a $5 trillion economy in the next five years, and the target of the MeitY was to achieve $1 trillion through digital economy during the period.

Source: By B. MADHUGOPAL, https://www.thehindu.com/, January 20, 2023

Big Tech needs to pay news publishers for content: Govt

BIG TECH content aggregators should give a “fair share of revenues” to digital platforms of print news publishers and there was a need to address the “disproportionate imbalance” in this dynamic, the Government said Friday. In his message read out at the inaugural session of a day-long conclave organised by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra linked this to the “future of journalism.” Speaking from Bengaluru, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, also underlined this imperative. Flagging the strained financial health of not just the digital news industry but the parent print news industry as well, post-Covid, Chandra said.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/, January 21, 2023 

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Telecom

Qualcomm introduces 'Snapdragon Insiders Access Program'

Chip-maker Qualcomm has introduced its new 'Snapdragon' Insiders Access Program', which will provide 'Snapdragon Insiders' priority access to new Snapdragon-powered device launches and much more. With the new Access Program, Insiders will get the opportunity to be among the first to try new Snapdragon-powered devices and partner with top brands, the company said in a blogpost. Moreover, it will provide participants the training from established influencers on how to create engaging content and grow their audience, priority access to Snapdragon Insider events and a chance to have their content featured on the company's official Snapdragon channels.

Source: https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/, January 30, 2023

Budget 2023: Reformative tax regime quintessential for driving telecom sector growth

Considering the financial health of the industry and the huge investments underway to fulfil our goal of a digitally connected India in line with the National Broadband Mission, it is vital for the TSPs that enabling provisions are made in the Union Budget to ease the burden and help the sector progress at pace with global developments. In terms of regulatory levies, COAI has requested that the USO contribution of 5% of AGR may be suspended till the existing USO corpus (with an unused surplus of INR 64774 crore as of 31.10.2022) is exhausted, and License Fee may be brought down from 3% to 1% to cover only administrative costs. Further, it would be beneficial if the definition of Gross Revenue from activities believed to be incidental to telecom activity are not part of GR.

Source: https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/, January 30, 2023

Vodafone Idea Board to meet to approve OCDs to ATC Telecom

Telecom giant Vodafone Idea on Thursday said that company's board will is scheduled to meet on 31 January 2023 to seek approval of the shareholders for preferential issue of optionally convertible debentures to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. The company in October last year had received board of directors approval for issuing Indian rupee-denominated debentures to ATC Telecom Infrastructure but that had as the OCDs could not be issued within the 15 days. The company has to seek a fresh approval of the shareholders to do the same. Vodafone Idea will issue up to 16,000 Indian Rupees denominated optionally convertible, unsecured, unrated, and unlisted debentures having a face value of ₹10 lakh each, in one or more tranches, aggregating up to ₹1,600 crore, it said in a regulatory filing of October.

Source: By Jyoti Bhantia, https://www.livemint.com/, January 26, 2023

DoT may seek law ministry views on giving spectrum to entities

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to seek the opinion of the law ministry over allocation of spectrum to enterprises for rolling out private captive networks. Officials aware of the details said the DoT will ask if spectrum can be given administratively or through auction. While the Cabinet had approved direct allocation to enterprises in June 2022, it had not spelled out the specifics around the methodology. Though private networks are not allowed to give commercial telecom services, we must be sure that we don't fall against the apex court order. Telcos have opposed any direct allocation alleging that it would distort the level playing field and give technology players a backdoor entry to provide 5G services to enterprises.

Source: Kiran Rathee, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/, January 12, 2023

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EV’s & Auto Electronics

Chinese BYD bullish on India's passenger Electric Vehicle market

BYD India, a subsidiary of Chinese vehicle manufacturer BYD is bullish on the evolution of the passenger electric vehicles (EV) market in the country and will come out with another model this year. Sanjay Gopalakrishnan, senior vice-president of the passenger EV business of BYD India, said the company has sold 700 EV cars of a single model in 2022 and expects to sell 15,000 units of three models in the current calendar year. Gopalakrishnan said the BYD cars are brought in semi-knocked-down condition to India and then assembled at the Chennai plant. BYD had initially introduced an electric bus in India in 2017, which it followed up with an electric passenger car in November 2021. Globally the company sold 1.8 million electric vehicles in 2022.

Source: https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/, January 29, 2023

Centre must help states cope with fiscal cost of faster EV adoption

India, the fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China, the US and the EU, has made the commitment in COP 26 to get 50 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and to be net-zero by 2070. Such a commitment by a lower middle come country, despite her per capita CO2 emission (1.9 tonnes) being only 12.2 per cent of that of the US (15.5 tonnes), is a reflection of India's commitment to sustainability. The key strategy being the promotion of Electric Vehicle (EV) through policies involving substantial tax concessions and subsidies. The key question is whether the environmental sustainability through EV is at the cost of fiscal sustainability of states. In keeping with the Paris Agreement to strengthen the global response to global warming through reduced carbon emissions, decarbonisation of the transport sector, which accounts for about 37 per cent of the total emission, is at the central stage. A global campaign, EV30@30, was initiated at the instance of Clean Energy Ministerial with an objective to reach  30 per cent sales share for EVs by 2030 wherein India's presence is prominent.

Source: https://ianslive.in/, January 30, 2023

Will FM Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2023 be an Accelerator for Electric Vehicles Sector?

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are rapidly gaining popularity in India as the country looks to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and curb air pollution. The Indian government has taken several initiatives to accelerate adoption of EV and announced several measures to strengthen the EV ecosystem, such as offering incentives to buyers, manufacturers, and creation of enabling infrastructure. However, as of 2022, the level of EV penetration in India is less than 1%. Thus, it would take significant efforts to achieve the stated government target of 30% sales of electric vehicles by 2030. To achieve this target the challenges faced by EV need to be addressed through the advancement of EV technology and conducive environment to promote innovation in the EV ecosystem. The widespread adoption of EVs in India is hindered by several challenges, chief among them being range / distance-related concerns and charging time. To mitigate these concerns, advancements in battery technology, including increased energy density and reduced weight and charging time of batteries are necessary. As EV usage increases, so too does the demand for electricity.

Source: By Sumit Mishra and Sahil Bhandare, https://www.news18.com/, January 30, 2023

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Defence & Solar

Greece builds first locally made combat drone

Greece has announced its first domestically build combat drone, the Grypas, with the initial scaled aircraft expected by 2025. In September, the Hellenic Aerospace Industry in cooperation with the Aristotle, Thessaly and Democritus universities presented Greece’s first national drone, the Archytas, advertised as the inaugural system in a line of upcoming unmanned technologies. The Grypas, announced Jan. 13, is the second platform born out of that joint production. While the development of the drone will follow a very similar pattern as the Archytas project, its design will be based on a different concept of operations to respond to diverse mission requirements. Whereas the Archytas is intended to perform reconnaissance and surveillance above Greek islands, the Grypas will serve as a multipurpose system equipped for combat assignments.

Source: By Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo, https://www.defensenews.com/, January 25, 2023

India to equip 150 su-30mki's with indigenous uttam active electronically scanned array: int'l media

India is about to launch the long-delayed Super Sukhoi program. 4 billion USD has already been requested by the Indian Ministry of Defence. 150 fighters out of 260 operationally ready Su-30MKI will go through complete modernization. The Super Sukhoi program was supposed to start nearly two years ago. In 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine and this delayed the plans of the Indian Air Command. However, the time has come for a change, and seeing the threat from China, India is ready to invest in the backbone of its Air Force. The modernization will mainly affect the replacement of electronics, sensors, and weapons. Realistically, if the program is completed on time, India will have a better Su-30 than the original manufacturer – the USSR/Russia. What is worth paying attention to is the replacement of the obsolete Soviet N011M Bars radar with a locally developed UTTAM AESA Radar.

Source: https://www.indiandefensenews.in/, January 30, 2023

France gives India's subs a stealthy tech boost

 France and India have signed an agreement to cooperate on air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology to upgrade the latter’s Kalvari-class submarines, deepening the growing strategic relationship between the two countries. AIP technology allows conventional submarines to stay submerged for weeks at a time, approaching the underwater endurance of nuclear submarines. This month, Naval Group France and India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) had signed an agreement to develop fuel cell AIP to be retrofitted on the first-of-class INS Kalvari, a derivative of the French Scorpene-class submarine. The report cites a DRDO statement that says senior officials of DRDO New Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) and Naval Group signed the agreement to extend cooperation for the detailed design phase of integrating India’s indigenous AIP into the INS Kalvari, with Naval Group certifying the integration.

Source: https://www.indiandefensenews.in/, January 30, 2023

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Consumer Electronics

14 Chinese suppliers to Apple get nod to Make in India via JV route

The government has given preliminary clearances to several of Apple’s Chinese suppliers, allowing them to form joint ventures with Indian companies to set up facilities here, as it seeks to expand the local value chain in iPhone and electronics manufacturing. Fourteen companies from a list of 17 Chinese suppliers that had approached the gov-ernment have received the initial clearance, officials aware of the matter said. These companies, which include Luxshare, Sunny Optical, Han’s Laser Technology, YUTO Packaging Technology, Strong, Salcomp and Boson, supply components to other smartphone and electronics brands as well. The government has clearly stated that these Chinese firms would not be allowed to set up their wholly owned entities in India and that they must form JVs with local compa-nies, the officials said.

Source: By Kiran Rathee & Subhrojit Mallick, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/, January 19, 2023

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EMSIF

(Special section of the MSME related news under ELCINA Micro & Small Industry Forum)

Defence ministry top buyer of MSME goods in 2022: GeM

 The Ministry of Defence was the top procuring ministry of goods and services from MSME sellers in the calendar year 2022, said the government’s public procurement e-commerce marketplace Government eMarketplace (GeM). “At number one in procurement, the Ministry of Defence has reached an all-time high. Reaping the benefits of cost efficiency and speedy procurement, the ministry has purchased products and services worth Rs 16,747 crore in 2022 from the portal,” GeM tweeted sharing the marketplace’s performance last year. Financial year-wise, the defence ministry had procured Rs 15,047.98 crore worth of goods and services from MSMEs in FY22, up 250 per cent from the previous year, FE Aspire had reported last year.

Source: By Sandeep Soni, https://www.financialexpress.com/, January 29

Budget 2023: Four key areas that need direct attention to boost MSME's growth

At a time when the global economy is undergoing a slowdown in the wake of geopolitical issues, the upcoming Budget can be expected to bring some relief to various sectors, especially the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). This sector contributes 33 percent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and creates 120 million jobs across all industries, making it the country’s backbone. Currently, it also faces several challenges on multiple fronts that hamper the sector’s growth and prevents it from achieving its true potential. In this context, reforms are expected in areas like labour, skill development, tax structures, and healthcare. Small and medium-sized businesses have high expectations from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Government of India is taking steps to promote manufacturing in the country by simplifying and modernizing labour regulations by replacing 29 existing laws with four new codes.

Source: By Ritu Mathran, https://www.firstpost.com/, January 29, 2023

Accelerating TReDS adoption to reduce the cost of capital for MSMEs

India’s 6.3 crore MSMEs sector contribute significantly towards the socio-economic development of the country. The sector has contributed 30 per cent to India’s GDP and has created 11.10 crore jobs. With an increase in the number of MSMEs by a CAGR of 18.5 per cent from 2019-2020, MSME exports surged 21.8 per cent from $155.9 billion during FY20 and 31.9 per cent from $143.9 billion during FY21 to $190 billion during FY22 (according to Annual MSME report 2021-22). With a vision to boost MSME’s contribution to 50 per cent to India’s GDP by 2025, it becomes imperative to improve and enhance MSMEs access to finance and that they have adequate working capital, especially as the country is witnessing surge in interest rates.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/, January 29, 2023

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ELCINA EVENTS , ACTIVITIES & SERVICES 

Source India – Electronics Supply Chain

13-14 February 2023 | Chennai Trade Center, Chennai

For more information, please contact :

Rajesh Rawat – 9911445890 / rajesh@elcina.com

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