Kakodkar concerned over rising electronics product import

Voicing concern over the growing import bill of electronic products, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) member Anil Kakodkar on Friday said such massive import is not good from the strategic point of view.

"While we have benefitted from the open door policy that we have followed for imported products, we should also realise that we have become that much more vulnerable. It is now well-known that India's import bill for electronic products would exceed that for oil and hydrocarbons," Kakodkar said, after launching a 'Programmable Logic Controller' (PLC) developed by the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL).

"This does not speak well. Because, import bill for oil itself is a serious issue in the context of not just balance of payment, but also in terms of energy security. Such large import of electronics surpassing even oil imports, is a serious issue in terms of balance of payments. But I think it is a huge issue in terms of security of Indian cyber space."

He said dependence of individuals, as well as of the nation, had increased upon imports. An awareness needs to be brought about on these issues. Talking to reporters later, Kakodkar favoured certain degree of protectionism to indigenous development.

"Because you ask somebody to come out with a new product and compete with something which is already in the market. That itself is a market barrier for new devleopment. It is very clear also that creates a lot of vulnerability. In some countries abroad, there are rules saying in the strategic area, everything you source has to be of local origin."

"They go through lot of audits to make sure whether there has been a breach on that policy. According to me, this is perfectly logical," he said.