CHENNAI: Syrma SGS Technology Ltd, an electronic manufacturing services (EMS) company, has commenced construction of its printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing facility at Naidupeta in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh.
The facility, being set up through its subsidiary Syrma Strategic Electronics Pvt Ltd at the Naidupeta Industrial Zone, is part of a Rs 700-crore investment for which the company has secured a 50% capital subsidy from the state government.
Syrma plans to initially manufacture 7.2 lakh sq mt of multi-layer PCBs and 4.8 lakh sq mt of single-layer PCBs annually. At full operational capacity, the plant will be able to produce up to 2.1 million sq mt of multi-layer PCBs. Trial production is expected by December 2026, with commercial production scheduled to begin in April 2027. Civil construction is targeted for completion by June 2026, after which machinery installations will begin from July 2026.
The company currently operates two other facilities — a PCB assembly plant in Pune and a laptop assembly unit at the Tambaram SEZ in Chennai. To build skilled capabilities, Syrma will begin sending employees to South Korea and China for three-to-four-week training stints in semiconductor manufacturing and machine operations. Employees will be trained in batches of four to five, with semiconductor training provided by its South Korean partner Shinhyup Electronics, which entered into a strategic joint venture with Syrma in September.
“We are in discussions with companies in industrial electronics, automotive, energy metering and other sectors,” said Jasbir Singh Gujral, Managing Director, Syrma SGS. He added that India’s semiconductor ecosystem is moving toward backward integration — starting with PCB and motherboard manufacturing, with localisation of raw materials planned in the next phase.
While raw materials for PCBs and semiconductors will continue to be imported for now, domestic PCB supply is expected to grow significantly over the next two years. “We will start with copper-clad laminate (CCL) and high-density interconnect (HDI) PCBs two to three years after commercial production of multi-layer PCBs begins in 2027,” he added.
The global PCB market is valued at about $5 billion, with India accounting for Rs 40,000–45,000 crore of demand. Nearly 90% of this is imported. The Indian PCB market is projected to expand to Rs 70,000 crore by 2030, while domestic supply is expected to rise to Rs 15,000–20,000 crore.
“As of now, cumulative investment capacity is around Rs 7,000–10,000 crore. With an asset turnover ratio of 1–1.25 times, once the new plants become fully operational, India’s PCB production should reach Rs 15,000–20,000 crore — around 30 percent of domestic demand,” Gujral said.
Syrma SGS had recently acquired defence and maritime electronics firm Elcome Integrated Systems for Rs 235 crore and plans to broaden its product offerings to boost revenue growth.
On employment opportunities, Gujral said the Pune unit currently employs about 150 people, which will rise to 800–1,000 once fully operational. The Naidupeta plant is expected to onboard 500–700 employees by December next year, with a target of 1,000. It is also planning a CCL facility in the next two to three years, which will create an additional 1,800–2,000 jobs.
However, skilled manpower remains a challenge. “There is educated workforce available, but employability is the issue. The education system has been disconnected from industry needs. With the sector growing at 25–30 percent, we have to invest significantly in training,” he said. Rising competition for trained manpower is also driving attrition, he added.
