A senior government official said on that the government is developing a new component-linked incentive program to promote the manufacturing of electronics parts other than semiconductors.
Speaking during the launch of Milkyway tablets produced in India, S Krishnan, the IT secretary and minister of electronics, stated that while the government has been in discussions with industry to promote design and make-in-India products, the other priority has been raising local value addition.
“The business community is taking the lead. In the upcoming months, Meity hopes to launch a component-linked reward program that will support the country’s efforts to become less of a product nation and more of a component-producing one, according to Krishnan.
The non-profit EPIC Foundation created a 4G tablet, which he and Consumers Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh inaugurated.
United Telecoms (UTL), the firm that makes JioPhones, and VVDN, an electronic manufacturing services provider, will create the tablet locally. The tablet was designed in India.
“VVDN worked with Mediatek to design the tablets for us. Without Mediatek’s assistance, the tablet could not have been designed. The nature of the market will determine how tablets are produced. We are willing to collaborate with anyone who would like to produce these tablets locally or create an original product on top of it. We’ll divulge every design. Our goal is to design in India,” Ajai Chowdhry, the founder and chairman of EPIC, stated to reporters.
Milkyway, an Android smartphone, will price for Rs 9,999 and is available in various models with 3GB and 4GB RAM, 32 GB and 64 GB storage, and 3 megapixel (MP) front and 8 MP back cameras.
Local start-up CoRover.ai has brought artificial intelligence into EPIC, enabling it to offer BharatGPT, a multilingual virtual assistant.
Iris Waves will market Milkyway and handle after-sale support.
According to Chowdhry, repairs for Milkyway may be made at the component level, something that cannot be done with imported goods.
In response to a question on the use of a 4G tablet in the era of 5G, Chowdhry stated that 5G coverage is not nationwide.
According to UTL Chairman P Raja Mohan Rao, his company will receive the order and produce 200,000 Milkyway tablets annually.
He declared that UTL will reimburse EPIC for royalties.
12,000 tablets are on order from Vedavaag Systems. For the banking correspondent service, a tablet will be used.
