New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- The Union government on Monday approved the first batch of projects under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), with seven proposals cleared involving a total investment of Rs.5,532 crore, with an expected production output of Rs.44,406 crore and the creation of more than 5,100 direct jobs. The Rs.5,532 crore outlay is the first tranche of a previously announced Rs.1.15 lakh crore of proposed investments under ECMS. A senior official of the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) told HT that the government will be announcing consequent tranches every fortnight. The ECMS, notified in April 2025 with a budget outlay of Rs.22,919 crore for six years, received a strong response from both domestic and global investors, with 249 applications proposing total investments of Rs.1.15 lakh crore, projected production worth Rs.10.34 lakh crore, and potential employment generation for 1.42 lakh people, according to MeitY data from early October. A MeitY official told HT that over 150 of these applications have been approved till now. Electronics and IT minister minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, announcing the approvals, said "20% of our domestic demand for PCBs and 15% of camera module sub-assembly will be met through production from these plants." About 60% of the output from these six units is expected to be exported. Of the seven approved applications, six manufacturing units will be established across four states, producing key electronic components used in devices such as mobile phones, drones, medical equipment, and robotics systems. The Kaynes Group will set up three of these units in Tamil Nadu, two in Chennai and one in Tuticorin, with a combined investment of Rs.3,280 crore. These facilities will produce multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs), high-density interconnect (HDI) PCBs, camera module sub-assemblies, and copper clad laminates (CCL). SRF Limited will invest Rs.496 crore to build a plant in Madhya Pradesh for polypropylene film, which is currently supplied in India through imports . Syrma Strategic Electronics and Ascent Circuits will establish multi-layer PCB units in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with investments of Rs.765 crore and Rs.991 crore, respectively. Notably, Kaynes Group's CCL facility coming up in Tuticorin will be the first such facility in India. CCL forms a key component used for manufacturing multi-layer PCBs which goes into every electronic equipment. Currently, India's demand for CCL is entirely met via imports. The minister said that the whole of this demand would now be met through the Kaynes Group's unit, with an investment of Rs.1,167 crore, production output of Rs.6,875 crore and whilst also generating 300 jobs. "The plants for multi-layer PCBs and HDI will be up and running by April 1 of next year. The CCL plant will come up at the end of 2026 or early 2027. It's a first of its kind facility spread over 5 lakh square feet, with 100% of the country's requirements met by this plant. We have partnered with various companies for various technologies," Kaynes' executive vice chairman Ramesh Kunhikannan told HT. IT secretary S Krishnan said it was crucial for all these projects to become operational quickly, emphasising that time was of the essence as the government works to boost domestic value addition in electronics. Through the ECMS, the government aims to double India's current value addition, which stands at about 15 to 20%, and strengthen the country's integration with global value chains....