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Over 50% mobile, electronic manufacturers registered with BIS are Chinese: Govt
The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has informed Parliament that over 50% of the manufacturers of mobile phones and electronics
The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has informed Parliament that over 50% of the manufacturers of mobile phones and electronics registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in the last four years are Chinese companies and at least 123 Chinese products failed compliance norms since 2015.
“A total of 13,752 registrations were granted to the Chinese manufacturers based on tests conducted at laboratories recognised by BIS. The detail is available in public domain at http://electronicstds.gov.in,” the ministry said in its response on Monday.
According to the website, a total of 23,838 manufacturers are registered on the website.
BIS is the National Standard Body of India (NSBI), which is notified under the BIS Act, 2016 and works under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
BIS seeks harmonious development of the activities of standardisation, marking and quality certification of goods.
The ministry was responding to an unstarred question in Parliament on Monday following a rise in tension with China along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the past few months.
There has been a major push back against Chinese companies that dominate the electronics and telecom industry in the country since the worsening of ties between New Delhi and Beijing.
The government in response to a separate question said it placed no ban on imports of electronic equipment from China. “To boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the electronics value chain, the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for large scale electronics manufacturing was granted Cabinet approval on March 20,” it added.
Under the scheme, the “Domestic Value Addition is expected to grow from the current 15% - 20% to 35-40% in case of mobile phones and from 35%- 40% to 45%-50% for electronic components,” the response stated.
The ministry listed 123 Chinese products that failed to satisfy compliance norms since 2015.
“Among the product categories notified under the Electronics and IT Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012, 123 Chinese products have failed to comply with the notified Indian standard since February, 2015,” the response added.
Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, notebook personal computers (PCs), microwave ovens, fixed general purpose light-emitting diode (LED) luminaires, printers, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, mobile phones and scanners are among the Chinese products that failed compliance norms.
RK Bhatnagar, a former technology advisor to the department of telecommunications (DoT), said that it is a theoretical exercise and by no means conclusive. “The bigger question is how many of these Chinese companies are manufacturing these products because that number will be substantially lower,” he said.
“The registration is only on paper. The actual number of functional manufacturers will depend on how many set up their units and sourced equipment via imports or otherwise,” he said . “Actual manufacturers may well be less than 100,” he added.
