AgenciesNEW DELHI: The mobile manufacturing industry has said that the government’s decision to classify power banks and to bring the import duty to zero on raw materials for lithium ion cells, which go into that accessory with create a Rs 18,000-crore industry and generate upto 80,000 jobs by 2025.
Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the India Cellular and Electronic Association of India (ICEA) said, more than 250 factories for assembly can come up by 2025 and added that this year itself, there would be a value addition of Rs 1,119 crore and more than 10,800 jobs would be created.
“This import duty will not have much impact as power banks will now mostly be assembled in India,” Mohindroo said.
The reasons for this exponential growth of power banks has been the increasing use of electronics, particularly smart phones. “Smartphones come with a large display and constant use drains the battery rapidly. As a result, there is no option but to use a power bank,” he said.
In India, there are about 430 million smartphone users currently who use about 33 million power banks a year worth Rs 2,000 crore. Currently most of the power banks are imported and can easily be substituted by those made in India, he added.
A power bank has four main components - lithium ion cells, control PCB, mouldings and USB connectors and cables. “We are very comfortably placed with all these components,” he said.
“The first lithium ion cell plant is coming up in Tirupati and more will follow soon. Mobile phone industry has already started to populate PCBs,” Mohindroo said.
Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the India Cellular and Electronic Association of India (ICEA) said, more than 250 factories for assembly can come up by 2025 and added that this year itself, there would be a value addition of Rs 1,119 crore and more than 10,800 jobs would be created.
The government on Wednesday notified basic custom duty on lithium ion cell and printed board assembly unit (PCBA) of 5% and 10% respectively. It also clarified the classification of the power banks, completely built units of which will now attract a duty of 20%.
“This import duty will not have much impact as power banks will now mostly be assembled in India,” Mohindroo said.
The reasons for this exponential growth of power banks has been the increasing use of electronics, particularly smart phones. “Smartphones come with a large display and constant use drains the battery rapidly. As a result, there is no option but to use a power bank,” he said.
In India, there are about 430 million smartphone users currently who use about 33 million power banks a year worth Rs 2,000 crore. Currently most of the power banks are imported and can easily be substituted by those made in India, he added.
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A power bank has four main components - lithium ion cells, control PCB, mouldings and USB connectors and cables. “We are very comfortably placed with all these components,” he said.
“The first lithium ion cell plant is coming up in Tirupati and more will follow soon. Mobile phone industry has already started to populate PCBs,” Mohindroo said.
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