Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday said India has a huge potential in electronics manufacturing which can provide up to two crore employment opportunities in the country.

Speaking at 'India SMES Expo and Summit 2015', where he was the chief guest, he appealed to SMES (small and medium-sized enterprises) to come forward for electronic manufacturing through joint ventures and avail the benefits of the schemes which the Government has been rolling out to help India become the electronics manufacturing hub.

“SMES should come forward and participate in electronics manufacturing sector through joint ventures and avail the benefits of the schemes. Government will support their efforts to make India an electronics manufacturing hub,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad.

India imports electronic items worth $100 billion every year at present and if it continues on the same scale, by 2020 it will go up to $400 billion. The import duty on electronics will even surpass the duty on fuel if this happens. This can only be countered by setting up manufacturing facilities in India so that duties on imports fall considerably.

Prasad said that the Centre has received investment proposals worth Rs1,10,000 crore in the electronics manufacturing sector, out of which Rs20,000 crore have already been approved by the Government. However, “we need to do a lot more,” he said, adding that “India uses electronic goods worth $100 billion every year and it is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020.”

Recently the Minister inaugurated Bihar's first Electronics and ICT Academy at NIT Patna. The academy will provide training for teachers and students to ensure sufficient number of trained human resource in electronics.

Government wants to develop electronics manufacturing through the medium of ‘Make in India’ as it can provide employment to crores of people in the country.

The three day 'India SMES Expo and Summit 2015' organised by MSME Development Forum in association with Ministry of MSME and PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) successfully concluded at Pragati Maidan on Sunday in the presence of Union Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan along with Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Expo started on Friday and continued till Sunday with multiple sessions discussing the growth of SMES in India with representatives from Ministries, PSUs, Corporates, investors and thousands of visitors.