Hyderabad : Sri City, South India’s largest Integrated Business City consisting of a Special Economic Zone, Domestic Tariff Zone and Free Trade Warehousing Zone, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ELCINA Electronic Industries Association of India to develop an Electronics Hardware Manufacturing Cluster (“ESDM Cluster”) in Sri City which will enable the members of ELCINA and other electronics manufacturers to set up facilities to address the domestic and export market.

This ESDM Cluster would consist of manufacturing units, mainly comprising of electronic component & parts manufacturers, raw materials, EMS companies for Electronic Equipment. In addition to several modern support facilities and Eco-friendly infrastructure, the Cluster will also house a common facility testing centre as well as facilities for training workers. Sri City will provide 50 acres of land for the ESDM Cluster in Phase 1 and subject to demand, an additional 50 acres in Phase 2.

Mr. T. Vasu, President, ELCINA, said, “ELCINA has focused on promoting electronics manufacturing since inception. The Cluster Model and Policy announced by Department of Electronics & IT, Government of India was proposed by ELCINA over three years ago and has come to fruition only now. With the demand for electronics estimated to reach  US$ 350-400 Billion by 2020 resulting in a huge demand-supply gap met by imports, ELCINA is committed to bridging the same by enabling and encouraging manufacturing. We are convinced that this Cluster in Sri City will enable manufacturers to establish globally competitive facilities, expand manufacturing and address the challenge thrown at us by surging imports”.

Commenting on the MoU signing, Mr. Ravindra Sannareddy, Managing Director, Sri City, said, “The current electronic hardware market in India is about 75 to 80 Billion dollars of which 60% is imported providing a huge opportunity for India to become an Electronic Hardware Manufacturing hub. Sensing this opportunity and the proposed Electronics Manufacturing Cluster Scheme, Sri City has tied up with ELCINA to jointly work towards developing the ESDM Cluster”. With the cluster coming up in Sri City, many of the issues that plague this industry such as availability of infrastructure, power, transportation, logistics & man power have all been taken care of to a very large extent.

Mr. Rajoo Goel, Secretary General, ELCINA, said, “we are delighted to  partner with Sri City for the ‘ESDM Cluster’ as it has a ready mix of infrastructure, educational institutions, hospitals and logistics, which made it a natural choice for us to sign the MoU. These facilities will enable manufacturers us to start operations with a short lead time. Our endeavor is to enable growth of electronics manufacturing in the country and encourage higher value addition through a supportive and efficient eco-system”.