The central government has approved two new Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) in Tamil Nadu under the EMC 2.0 scheme, reinforcing the state’s position as India’s leading electronics exporter. The clusters, located at Manallur in Tiruvallur district and Pillapaikkam in Kancheepuram district, will be developed by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu Ltd (SIPCOT) with a combined investment of ₹1,012.02 crore. These projects are designed to expand the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem and attract anchor electronics manufacturers along with their supply chains.
What Is the EMC 2.0 Scheme?
The Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters Scheme (EMC 2.0) was notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 1 April 2020. It is the successor to the original EMC scheme launched in 2012, under which 20 Greenfield clusters and 3 Common Facility Centres (CFCs) were approved across 15 states with a total outlay of ₹3,499 crore. The newer version was designed to deepen the electronics value chain and create a more robust infrastructure base for the industry.
The scheme has a total outlay of ₹3,762.25 crore for an eight year period ending in March 2028. Of this, ₹3,725 crore is earmarked for grants-in-aid and ₹37.25 crore for administrative expenses. STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) has been appointed as the Project Management Agency (PMA) to appraise and monitor the approved projects.
EMC 2.0 provides financial assistance for two types of projects. Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) are greenfield or brownfield industrial zones of a minimum 200 acres where basic infrastructure, amenities and common facilities are developed for ESDM units. Common Facility Centres (CFCs) are shared infrastructure facilities such as testing labs, R&D centres and skill development centres set up within existing industrial areas that already have a significant number of ESDM units.
Under the scheme, the central government covers up to 50% of the project cost for EMC projects, subject to a ceiling of ₹70 crore per 100 acres of land, with an overall cap of ₹350 crore per project. For CFC projects, the financial assistance is up to 75% of the project cost, capped at ₹75 crore. Land cost is not eligible for assistance. Each EMC must earmark at least 10% of the saleable area for Ready Built Factory (RBF) sheds or plug-and-play facilities to lower entry barriers for manufacturers, especially MSMEs.
The Two New EMCs: Key Details
Both clusters will be managed by SIPCOT, the nodal industrial development agency of the Tamil Nadu government. SIPCOT is responsible for developing industrial parks, allotting land to industries and providing common infrastructure facilities across the state.
| Particulars | Manallur EMC | Pillapaikkam EMC |
|---|---|---|
| District | Tiruvallur | Kancheepuram |
| Taluk | Gummidipoondi | Sriperumbudur |
| Area | 474.3 acres | 379.3 acres |
| Project Cost | ₹587.47 crore | ₹424.55 crore |
| Combined Investment | ₹1,012.02 crore | |
| Implementing Agency | SIPCOT | SIPCOT |
The Manallur EMC is located about 50 km from Chennai, close to the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor. It is surrounded by SIPCOT’s existing industrial parks at Thervoykandigai and Gummidipoondi. The cluster will focus on component manufacturing, hearables and wearables, IT hardware and white goods.
The Pillapaikkam EMC lies in the Sriperumbudur taluk of Kancheepuram district, a region that has emerged as one of India’s most dynamic electronics manufacturing belts. This area hosts global giants such as Foxconn, Samsung, Dell, Flex and Salcomp, along with hundreds of component suppliers. The cluster will target automotive electronics, EV related electronics, LEDs, PV cells and modules, and photovoltaic ancillary manufacturing.
Tamil Nadu’s Electronics Manufacturing Ecosystem
Tamil Nadu has become the cornerstone of India’s electronics manufacturing story. In FY26, the state was the country’s largest electronics exporter, with outbound shipments worth $20 billion, a 36% growth over the previous year. This accounted for about 42% of India’s total electronics exports. Kancheepuram district alone contributed nearly $17 billion of this, making it the second largest merchandise exporting district in the country after Jamnagar.
The growth is anchored in the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam industrial corridor, which began attracting multinational manufacturers in the late 1990s. Companies such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Dell, Foxconn, Flex and Ericsson set up manufacturing bases here, and a dense network of component suppliers and ancillary units followed. Samsung’s Sriperumbudur facility, established in 2007, now manufactures televisions, refrigerators and washing machines for both domestic and international markets. Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur campus, which employs about 40,000 workers, is one of its largest facilities globally.
The state government has supplemented central incentives with its own policies. The Tamil Nadu Semiconductor and Advanced Electronics Policy 2024 aims to accelerate semiconductor packaging capabilities within the state. The government has set a target of making Tamil Nadu a $150 billion electronics hub by 2030 and a one trillion dollar economy by 2030-31, growing at an annual rate of 12-14%.
India’s Growing Electronics Manufacturing Ambitions
The approval of these two clusters is part of a broader national push to position India as a global electronics manufacturing hub. The National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019), which replaced the earlier NPE 2012, envisions achieving a turnover of $400 billion in the ESDM sector. India’s domestic electronics production has grown from ₹1,90,366 crore in 2014-15 to substantially higher levels, with a compound annual growth rate of about 25%. The country’s share of global electronics manufacturing has risen from 1.3% in 2012 to over 3% today.
The government has deployed a multi-pronged strategy through complementary schemes. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for large scale electronics manufacturing, launched in April 2020, offers 4-6% incentives on incremental sales. The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) provides a 25% capital expenditure subsidy. The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), notified in April 2025 with an initial outlay of ₹22,919 crore and later enhanced to ₹40,000 crore in the Union Budget 2026-27, targets upstream components such as PCBs, camera modules and copper laminates.
On the semiconductor front, the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has driven significant progress. In July 2026, the Union Cabinet approved ISM 2.0 with an outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore, focusing on six pillars: chip design, machines and materials, fabrication units, ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging) strengthening, R&D and talent development. A separate Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) worth ₹62,500 crore was also cleared to boost domestic value addition in smartphones from the current 24% to 40-45%.
Progress of EMC 2.0 So Far
As of the latest available data, the EMC 2.0 scheme has approved projects covering about 4,917 acres across multiple states. The total approved project cost stands at over ₹5,795 crore, with central financial assistance of around ₹2,777 crore. These projects are located across 10 states, with a projected investment of over ₹1.46 lakh crore and estimated employment generation of approximately 1.80 lakh jobs.
An independent impact assessment by the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NI-MSME) under the Ministry of MSME found that the scheme has accelerated the development of electronics manufacturing infrastructure, improved supply chain responsiveness and created significant direct and indirect employment. Investment commitments worth ₹1.13 lakh crore have already been received from 123 land allottees across the approved EMCs. Of these, nine units have started production with a grounded investment of ₹12,569.69 crore, generating 13,680 jobs.
Key Takeaways
- The central government approved two new Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) in Tamil Nadu under the EMC 2.0 scheme with a combined investment of ₹1,012.02 crore.
- The Manallur EMC in Tiruvallur district (474.3 acres) costs ₹587.47 crore, while the Pillapaikkam EMC in Kancheepuram district (379.3 acres) costs ₹424.55 crore.
- Both clusters will be developed by SIPCOT, the state industrial development agency of Tamil Nadu.
- The EMC 2.0 scheme, notified in April 2020 by MeitY, has a total outlay of ₹3,762.25 crore and runs until March 2028.
- Tamil Nadu was India’s largest electronics exporter in FY26, with exports worth $20 billion, accounting for 42% of the national total.
- The EMC 2.0 scheme has approved projects covering about 4,917 acres across 10 states, with projected investments of over ₹1.46 lakh crore and expected employment of 1.80 lakh jobs.
