As an Electronics OEM located in the USA, Canada, or Europe, you are likely evaluating (or have evaluated) India as a competitive alternative for your supply chain and electronics manufacturing or contract manufacturing needs. Supply chain and manufacturing is mission critical to your business, so read on for our informed take on why choosing India as your low-
cost region supply chain and manufacturing destination is a smart choice.

Located in South East Asia, in the subcontinent, India is the world’s largest democracy. With a large population, India is on a quest to grow its economy sustainably and create jobs for its
large population.

Product Expertise & Experience
India brings deep expertise and experience in research & development, engineering & design, software, and a rapidly scaling up supply chain & manufacturing industry.

With carefully curated partners, the country has the capability to provide you with single accountability across these disciplines, resulting in a solid long-term electronics manufacturing, contract manufacturing, and supply chain alternative.

Intellectual Property (IP)
India has adequate copyright laws. India has been a World Trade Organization (WTO) member since 1995 and when doing business with India, you will find similarities between local IP law and enforcement procedures, and those enforced in Europe and the USA. India is also signatory to various international treaties on IP rights. Furthermore, rights such as trademarks, designs, patents, and copyright can be protected through registration. These rights are enforceable through the Indian courts, which, in the event of infringement, can provide interim remedies such as injunctions relatively quickly. The courts can also instruct perpetrators to account for profits generated from their infringement. IP risks can be further mitigated by doing business with an American technology company with operations in India, such as ours (best of both worlds).

Talent Pool
India’s emphasis on affordable and accessible education, especially at the college level generates a large pool of talent annually. A surplus of extra manpower is driven by a growing, younger working population. The country currently has a median age of around 32.4 years old. This is a prime age for a working class. Also, despite the average age of the world population’s prediction to rise in the next couple of decades, India’s median age is expected to be just 36 years by 2030. This is a huge supply of talent compared to the aging population in China, Japan, or the US.

English Language Skills
English is the second official language in India, and businesses and government have embraced it to conduct business. In contrast to China, India incorporates a baseline of British customs and legal systems, ensuring a smaller culture gap that needs to be bridged.

Political Stability
India has a stable and progressive government headed by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The country’s political stability and policy continuity makes it an attractive destination for global investors and foreign companies seeking to establish a technology and manufacturing base. According to heritage.org, “India has become a major exporter of information technology services, business outsourcing services, and software workers.” USA businesses take comfort that a political downfall will not occur and that stability in the country will be maintained.

Business Friendly
There are many initiatives by the Government of India to encourage companies to manufacture in India and incentivize dedicated investments in different sectors:

• Digital India: Digital India is a flagship program of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Learn more here.
• Make in India: This is a major national program of the Government of India designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property and build best in class manufacturing infrastructure in the country. The primary objective of this initiative is to attract investments from across the globe and strengthen India’s manufacturing sector. Learn more here.

Infrastructure
Recognizing infrastructure as a key driver for India’s economic growth and for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the Government of India continues to invest in the infrastructure sector including railways; highways and rural roads; renewable energy; electricity generation; and port modernization. You may mitigate any infrastructure risks by vetting that the potential Indian business partner has easy access to air and seaports and is self-sufficient for electricity generation. India is balancing growth and sustainability with an ambitious decarbonizing pathway plan to net neutral (more here from McKinsey).

People Transportation

From the perspective of visiting India to tour or otherwise access supplier facilities:

• Air Travel: India has major modern international airports served by US, European, and Asian carriers.
• Stay: The country is served by international and national hotel chains, including familiar names, like Hilton, Hyatt, Intercontinental, Marriott, and Radisson.
• Ground Transport: The hotel will be happy to provide you with access to modern ground transport, such as a hotel car. Please note that Uber is widely available as are government and private taxis. Your Uber account is expected to work the same way in India, providing a seamless experience while there.

Communications: Most major US & European carriers have roaming agreements with Indian carriers so your GSM cell phone can be expected to operate seamlessly in India for voice, data, and messaging.

Financial Transactions: The legal tender currency is the Indian Rupee (INR), foreign trade in USD is widely accepted. Electronic payments are prevalent, with Amex, Visa, and Mastercard freely accepted. ATMs are available at the airport and throughout the country.

Freight & Logistics

India is served by all major international and regional air and ocean logistics and freight organizations so that your goods from the factory in India can delivered to your dock.

Price Competitive
India offers competitive labor costs for hardware design, electronics engineering design, electronics supply chain, electronics manufacturing services, and contract manufacturing.

In summary, India represents a viable low-cost region destination for your design, supply chain and manufacturing, software, product support, value engineering, value added services,, and sustaining engineering needs. To name just a few, international companies like Apple / Foxconn, Samsung, BMW, Mercedes, and Xiaomi have established production operations in India.

We would recommend that potential supply chain partners be carefully vetted (with due diligence) to ensure that they understand your business and your needs deeply, and deliver value accordingly, while identifying and mitigating specific risks as a critical part of your overseas supply chain.

Vish Thirumurthy. Tev5 HardTech. Rev A.

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