India’s mobile phone exports are expected to cross ₹1.2 trillion at the end of this financial year, reaching a major milestone propelled by the government’s thrust on phone makers such as Apple and Samsung to manufacture locally.
The exports would account for nearly one-third of the total domestic production of mobile phones, projected at about ₹4.1 trillion in FY24, the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association said on Thursday.
According to industry observers, a majority of the mobile phone exports by value are on account of Apple and Samsung devices.
“Cumulative exports of mobile phones during the period 2014-2024 reached a total estimate of ₹3.22 trillion—a new era in India’s exports,” said the association, which represents major phone makers including Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. “Mobile phones have now become India’s fifth-largest export as an individual commodity.”
India’s mobile phone manufacturing industry is estimated to have produced about 2.45 billion devices worth ₹19.45 trillion cumulatively over the past 10 years, a shade below its target of 2.5 billion phones worth about ₹20 trillion, the association said.
India, the world’s second-largest producer of mobile phones behind China, exported mobile phones worth $11 billion, or about ₹90,955 crore, in FY23, with total domestic production at $44 billion, or ₹3.6 trillion.
“The sector has transitioned from being 78% import dependent in 2014 to 97% self-sufficiency currently. The future would be export growth-led,” the association said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during his Independence Day speech in 2014 urged global companies to manufacture in India.
Over the past decade, a number of mobile phone manufacturing units have come up in the country, including that of the world’s largest contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, which is also the largest maker of Apple’s iPhones globally.
Apple began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 and has since scaled up production. It also brought its iconic Apple stores to the country last year.
The government now intends to make India a critical part of global supply chains by offering its manufacturing capabilities in electronics to global value chains, or GVCs, as an alternative to China.
“As a next step, we have to ensure that we can shift electronics GVCs to India to create large-scale manufacturing, jobs, and increase domestic value addition,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, ICEA. “This, in turn, requires unprecedented competitiveness and factories that can operate at scale of the kind that has never been witnessed in India.”
He added that doubling of India’s GDP from $3.7 trillion now to $7 trillion by 2030 will be led by growth in the digital sector and trade. “In both these areas, electronics manufacturing led by mobile production will play a critical role,” he said.
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