Electronic goods import up 30% at Rs 1.57 lakh cr in FY12

India's import of electronic goods like mobiles and cameras rose by almost 30 per cent to Rs 1.57 lakh crore in 2011-12, Parliament was informed on Friday.

The country had imported electronic products worth Rs 1.21 lakh crore in 2010-11 fiscal, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"To promote manufacturing of electronics goods indigenously and reduce dependence on imports, government has notified the National policy on Electronics (NPE) 2012 for the promotion of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in the country," the Minister added.

The policy aims to make the domestic electronic hardware manufacturing segment into a USD 400 billion industry by 2020.

Under the policy, government has set objective to create an eco�system for a globally competitive ESDM sector in the country to achieve a turnover of about USD 400 billion by 2020 involving investment of about USD 100 billion and employment to around 28 million people at various levels.

In absence of a government initiative, it was estimated that at the current rate of growth, domestic output can cater to a demand of USD 100 billion by 2020 against a demand of USD 400 billion. The rest would have to be met by imports.