The IPC India offices in Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Chennai represent all facets of the electronics industry including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly, and testing. IPC India welcomed a new Executive Director, Gaurab Majumdar, earlier this year. Executive Briefing staff asked Gaurab to share his plans for IPC India.

EB: IPC India has grown a great deal since it was opened in March 2010. What do you see as the strength of its presence in India and the overall manufacturing industry?
GM: In the last 10 years, IPC India was successful in planting seeds of the business and got the desired attention of members for training and certification. The federal government in India is focusing on electronics manufacturing and developing the supply chain for vertical industries like defense, telecom, ICT, automotive, healthcare, aerospace, power, railways, and broadcasting. Though Bangalore is the prominent place for electronics manufacturing in India, the last few years have shown growth in Chennai, Pune, and Delhi. IPC India has the resources to help industry and government initiatives through skilling and certification. To serve the industry efficiently, IPC India will develop more “train the trainer” programs across major cities in 2021.

EB: Please tell us how the pandemic has affected the electronics manufacturing industry in India and how IPC India has responded
GM: The COVID 19 and lockdown in India has deeply impacted the electronics industry because many large, government and global companies rely heavily on China for most of their electronic components. China being the single source for manufacturing has affected the consumer electronics industry, leading to price increases. On a positive note, the Government of India started encouraging “Self-Reliant/Make in India” and formulated policies for domestic electronics manufacturing and further exports. The need of the hour is to develop the capacity of Indian electronics manufacturing.  IPC can play an important role through skill development and certification programs.

During the COVID pandemic, the IPC India team set up the infrastructure required for virtual sessions to replace live classrooms and facilitated the remote proctoring exam. The virtual training sessions helped IPC India deliver 17 CITs and 80 CIS certifications. Overall, during the year (till Oct 31), 37 CITs and 228 CIS certifications were issued. CIS certification by company CITs stood at 474 till Oct 31. IPC India also created a Customer Communication Society (CCS), an online communication portal for CIS/CIT/CID in India. CCS has provided 2818 registrations to date.

EB: How has your background in economic and trade development programs with Government agencies of U.S.A, South Korea, and India provided you with insight into how to lead IPC India?
GM: A major part of my career has been in developmental activities. I have focused more on partnership and collaboration, trying to bring the Indian and global stakeholders to one platform. India is on a development path and it will be important to connect with global technology manufacturers, integrators, service providers and standards developers. The electronics industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in India, both in terms of production and export. The domestic electronic hardware producing sectors face an absence of a level-playing field against competing nations because of several incapacities which render the sector uncompetitive. I believe that global standards and certification can help to develop capacity building. IPC as a global manufacturing association with one decade of operation in India has the right tools and resources. to help the sector and I am happy to lead the initiative.

EB: What are your plans for membership growth in India? Any new initiatives planned for 2021?
GM: IPC as a global manufacturing association has not been well known to Indian stakeholders of the electronics industry. I am interested in supporting government and industry initiatives that build strong electronics manufacturing capacity via support from IPC resources. With support from industry, government is focusing on electronics manufacturing clusters in various regions of India. It will be important for IPC India to associate with such programs. IPC resources are yet to reach to Indian small and medium enterprises (SME). I would like to re-align the IPC membership structure to serve the SMEs.

EB: You have indicated an interest in seeking opportunities for IPC in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Can you explain your plans?
GM: A decade ago, I was involved in the MEA market in the engineering, information, and communication technology sector. I have observed that in the Gulf region, the workforce in this sector is mostly from the Indian subcontinent. Some countries in the Middle East region are focusing on local assembling and servicing of electronics products. African Union and African Electronic Trade Group has formulated policy to support skilling and adopting standards for the industry. India is preparing to export electronics product to countries having a free trade agreement.  With IPC focus on the Indian market, it will be important to extend its value to the MEA region and create linkages with stakeholders. During 2021, I will be interested in identifying associations and government agencies in MEA for potential partnership.

EB: For more information on services provided by the IPC India office, where can industry go/who should they contact?
GM: I am re-aligning the IPC India team structure on a regional basis with focus on states encouraging electronics manufacturing. I would like to be the focal point of contact to interact with industry and stakeholders, this will help me to learn more about the sector. I would be happy to answer queries – gaurabmajumdar@ipc.org; +91-9986366145.