India is making rapid strides in electronics production and has emerged as the second largest mobile phone manufacturing hub globally,President Ram Nath Kovind said.

Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament,Kovind said the value of electronic equipment manufactured in the country has increased to Rs 4.58 lakh crore in 2018-19 from Rs 1.90 lakh crore in 2014-15."In 2014, there were only two companies manufacturing mobiles in India. Today,India is the second largest mobile manufacturing hub in the world," he said.He noted that the government is promoting manufacturing of mobile phones,TVs and other electronic devices, and National Policy on Electronics has been formulated in this regard.

Over the last few years, the government has been bullish on  making India a manufacturing base forthe world and has set a target to promote domestic manufacturing in the entirevalue-chain of ESDM (electronic system design and manufacturing) to achieve aturnover of USD 400 billion (Rs 26 lakh crore) by 2025.For mobile handsetsegment alone, the government, under the National Policy on Electronics 2019,had set a target of making 100 crore mobile handsets indigenously by 2025, valuedat about Rs 13 lakh crore.

Out of the 100-crore mobile handset manufacturing target, 60crore units will be for exports valued at about Rs 7 lakh crore.According toindustry body Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), mobilehandset exports grew over eight-fold to Rs 11,200 crore in 2018-19 and exceededimports for the first time.

The President, in his address on Friday, said technology isplaying a major role in bringing cities and villages closer.

"So far, more than 1.25 lakh Gram Panchayats have beenconnected with high speed broadband under the BharatNet scheme," he said.

In 2014, there were 60,000 Common Service Centres in ruralareas, a number that has now increased to more than 3.65 lakh.

"This has provided employment to more than 12 lakhvillagers. Through these centres, the government is delivering more than 45 servicesin rural areas," he said.

Asserting that digital technology is the foundation of theIndustrial Revolution 'Industry 4.0', he said the government has focussed ondigital access, digital inclusion and digital empowerment in an"unparalleled manner" through the Digital India Programme.

"It is a matter of pride for the country that digitalsystems developed in India during the last five years have been a source ofinspiration for several countries of the world," he said.

Kovind said more than 121 crore people in the country haveAadhaar cards and about 60 crore people possess RuPay cards.

"A record value of Rs 2 lakh crore has been transactedthrough UPI in December 2019," he said adding the government has alsolaunched a new version of the BHIM App.

The government has linked about 450 schemes to DirectBenefit Transfer (DBT) by using the `JAM Trinity' of Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar andMobile.

He said over Rs 9 lakh crore has been directly transferredto the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through DBT in the last five years.

"By plugging the leakages, my Government has savedabout Rs 1.70 lakh crore from going into the wrong hands," he added.