India’s ambitions of becoming a global hub for electronics, EV and semiconductor manufacturing are drawing attention to a less visible but increasingly strategic part of the industrial ecosystem domestic testing and compliance infrastructure.
As electronics become more interconnected and globally regulated, manufacturers are facing growing pressure to validate products against stringent safety, wireless and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards before entering domestic and international markets.
For years, however, one of the biggest challenges for Indian manufacturers was limited local access to advanced compliance testing infrastructure.
“The reason we are setting up these laboratories is to support the Make in India efforts,” said Nagendra Bangaragiri, Director, ETL India & MENAP at Intertek. “For example, you can develop an IoT product, but if you don’t have the facility to test, then you have to send it to countries like China or Taiwan or other places to test it.”
Industry experts say this dependence on overseas facilities historically increased certification timelines, product development costs and operational complexity, particularly for startups and emerging electronics manufacturers.
“Traditionally, what was happening in India is, if you need compliance to address global requirements, capacity was one of the issues for most manufacturers,” Bangaragiri said. “Either they had to send the product outside India to get it tested, or they had to use their sister companies in other places.”
Intertek, which provides testing, inspection and certification services globally, has been expanding its EMC and wireless testing capabilities in India to support manufacturers across sectors such as EVs, telecom, medical devices, industrial automation and connected electronics.
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The company’s new Bengaluru facility has been designed to support domestic as well as global compliance requirements, including pre-compliance, R&D and certification-related testing. According to Intertek, the facility incorporates advanced testing capabilities such as high-frequency wireless testing, immunity validation and specialised testing for products requiring water inlet and outlet functionality.
Industry experts note that localisation of testing infrastructure is becoming increasingly important as India expands domestic manufacturing under initiatives linked to electronics, semiconductors and connected technologies.
Under India’s Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS), several categories of electronics products including mobile phones, laptops, servers and telecom equipment are required to undergo testing within India before entering the domestic market.
Intertek also sees increasing demand from India’s startup ecosystem, particularly among companies developing IoT products, robotics systems and connected electronics.
“One of the reasons we have chosen Bangalore for the EMC-EMI testing is to support these electronics start-ups,” Bangaragiri said. “Most start-ups want to utilise these facilities for pre-compliance and R&D-related testing before they go to the certification stage, because failures at later stages become costly.”
As India positions itself within global manufacturing supply chains, experts believe local testing ecosystems could play a critical role in enabling faster product development, export readiness and long-term manufacturing competitiveness.
Insights shared by: Team Intertek