New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): India exported electronics components worth Rs 35,000 crore to China last year and is rapidly expanding its domestic component manufacturing ecosystem, with around 250 electronics component factories expected to be set up over the next two to three years, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Minister said India is steadily moving up the electronics manufacturing value chain.

'Last year, we exported 35,000 crore rupees components to China. We are manufacturing components, already 75 factories for electronics components are under construction at this point of time and about 250 component manufacturing factories will be set up in the coming two to three years,' Vaishnaw said.

He said India is progressing through the same manufacturing journey that many successful manufacturing economies followed in the past.

'So we are going absolutely in the value chain the way many other countries have progressed,' he noted.

According to the Minister, the growth of the electronics sector has also generated significant employment opportunities.

'That's why I say that 25 lakh jobs have been created in the electronics manufacturing. These are good quality jobs,' he said.

Responding to criticism that India's electronics industry is limited to assembly operations or 'screwdriver technology', Vaishnaw strongly rejected the claim. 'Absolutely not,' he said.

The minister said India started with finished product manufacturing, similar to countries such as China, Vietnam and Taiwan, before progressing to module manufacturing and now component production.

'We started with finished product manufacturing. That is the way China, Vietnam, Taiwan, they all started like that. Then you go down to the module manufacturing. We have already reached that module manufacturing. And now we are going to manufacturing components,' he said.

Vaishnaw also highlighted the capabilities of Indian engineers and workers, citing the example of the Vande Bharat train.

'Fully designed by Indian engineers. Manufactured by Indian welders and Indian fitters and Indian technicians,' he said.

On India's broader manufacturing journey, the minister said countries such as China and South Korea began their manufacturing push in the early 1980s, while India's major manufacturing thrust started only around a decade ago.

'These countries started manufacturing journey in early 1980s. We started manufacturing thrust just about 7-8 years, 10 years ago,' he said.

Vaishnaw, who is also Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, expressed confidence that India would emerge as a major global manufacturing force due to its design capabilities, entrepreneurial strength and growing international trust.

'But I am sure given the kind of design capabilities that India has and given the entrepreneurial abilities that the country has, we certainly will be a big force,' he said.

He added that several countries increasingly see India as a trusted manufacturing partner.

'Today when I talk to my counterparts from Europe, my counterparts from US, from many parts of the country, they believe that they would like to procure their entire electronics from India because India is a trusted country,' Vaishnaw said.

According to the Minister, the ongoing expansion in component manufacturing will help strengthen India's position in global electronics supply chains while creating more high-quality jobs across the country.

The government, in March this year, approved 29 more proposals under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS).

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) said that in continuation to the approvals of 46 applications for Rs 54,567 crore announced earlier, it has further approved 29 proposals under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) with projected investment of Rs 7,104 crore, projected production of Rs 84,515 crore.

The approvals are expected to generate 14,246 direct employment opportunities, the ministry had said. (ANI)