'US tariff issue will be resolved soon,' says MeitY Joint Secretary Sushil Pal

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At the UP Tech Next Summit, government officials and industry leaders underscored the need for collaboration, supply chain diversification, and strong state support to scale India’s electronics and semiconductor ambitions.

Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary at MeitY, highlighted that building a resilient ecosystem requires shared strengths rather than isolation. “Need to keep in mind that no country can actually become self-sufficient in the electronic sector,” Pal said, stressing that global interdependence remains key.

“For the electronic industry to become sustainable, we need to some national champions and in certain MSMEs, too,” Pal said, highlighting the importance of both large and small enterprises in driving growth.

He also expressed hope regarding international trade concerns, noting, “We hope the US tariff to be sorted soon.”

He noted India’s progress in critical capabilities but emphasised the importance of broad-based supply chain resilience. “We are actually self-sufficient in at least the critical technologies, but want to make sure that whatever supply chain will depend on those are highly diversified.”

Speaking about state competitiveness, Anurag Yadav, Principal Secretary, Department of IT & Electronics, Uttar Pradesh, urged a unified national vision. “Rather than putting the question of competition among states, we should see India competing on the global stage,” he said.

Industry voices also praised Uttar Pradesh’s rapid strides in electronics manufacturing. Rajesh Agarwal, co-founder of Micromax and Bhagwati Products, said, “Our experience in UP is very good. We have more than 10,000 people in Noida. We have got all the support from the state and the centre. We have all kinds of infrastructure support. We intend to have a mother factory here in UP with all our suppliers and component manufacturers based here.”

Backing the state’s potential further, Pankaj Mahindroo, Chairman of India Cellular and Electronics Association, said, “I will go long on UP. Developing UP is in the national interest. The chill factor is minimal now.”

He also stressed the need for India to increase its electronics exports.

“What is the import of electronics in China? It is $700 billion. But they export worth $1 trillion. We need to export more than import,” he said.

Mahindroo also highlighted challenges in the sector, noting, “We are building a middle layer. We have disadvantage on capital cost and interest rate compared to China & Vietnam.”

He called for proactive efforts from state leaders, stating, “We need more roadshows by UP ministers to attract investments. We have something to show now.”

Pointing out a key weakness in the state’s investment strategy, Mahindroo added, “One of the biggest weaknesses of UP is that leaders and bureaucrats do not travel to get investments.”

“Government is taking the honest feedback very positively. The criticism has to be constructive and needs to be told us what to do.”

"Our biggest fault line is we are very inward looking, which shows in our merchandise exports," he further added.

“We are told in UP to be in our ‘Aukaat’, and we run ahead of ourselves as a country,” Mahindroo remarked.

The discussions reiterated Uttar Pradesh’s growing role in India's ambition to become a global electronics manufacturing hub, driven by policy support and industry confidence.