Kuldeep Malik, Country Head – Corporate Sales International, MediaTek India
“We believe that the ‘Make in India’ initiative will see a great positive impact if the government decides to increase the scope of existing localization clause of import duties on mobiles and tablets. Further, due to this the current manufacturing ecosystem will see a shift in adoption from SKD (Semi Knock-down) to CKD (Complete Knock-down). This will in turn lead to an increased focus towards the development of local components ecosystem.
Similarly, the development of industrial & mechanical design activities will be involved with an increase in design activities taking place within India. Software and hardware localization will bring in key developments towards local R&D activities and we do foresee the jobs market to experience a boost. Big Chinese players like Oppo, Vivo, Gionee, and iTel, who have already entered the India market, will gradually shift their R&D focus to India in order to tap into the huge pool of resources available within the country.
Key local brands who continue to be dependent on ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) capabilities, may need to ramp up their efforts in R&D in order to keep up with the change in the landscape. Therefore, an initiative to increase localization will be a key factor in this budget to help boost local R&D activities in India along with establishing sizable amount of key component ecosystem.”
