Fake Indian electronics market outpacing genuine products

The illicit market for counterfeit electronic goods is growing at double the rate than the genuine market in India, according to local news reports.

This is according the country's telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, who told India's Economic Times that: "The present size of counterfeit products in India is five per cent of the overall market size and growing at a rate almost double of that of genuine products which is worth over Rs2,500 crore [$395m] and is likely to grow to Rs5,600 crore in next year."

While a separate study for real electronics products was not available, the new data of the fake market was conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, he added, noting that government had created this new mechanism to monitor counterfeit products in order to check the quality compliance of all genuine products.

He said that if the genuine electronics manufacturing industry is allowed to grow in India it has the potential to provide jobs to the younger generation – something the Indian economy desperately needs.

Prasad said the Department of Electronic and Information Technology was now pushing to use the Electronic and IT goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) order 2012 under a compulsory registration scheme.

This order has recently mandated that 15 electronics and IT goods be tested for meeting Indian safety standards.