India's mobile phone exports have seen a huge jump, exceeding ₹1.75 lakh crore ($21 billion) during the first 11 months of FY2024-25 (April-February). This is 54% more than the previous financial year over the same period, according to the latest industry data.
Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier estimated that smartphone exports would reach $20 billion (₹1.68 lakh crore) in FY2024-25. However, statistics from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) affirm that this has already been surpassed with a month remaining in the financial year.
India's electronics exports—led primarily by smartphones—have been growing steadily, primarily driven by the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. The scheme has been able to lure technology behemoths from across the globe, including Apple and Apple suppliers, who are seeking to diversify their manufacturing hubs away from China in the face of US sanctions.
The PLI program has not only increased exports but also drastically cut imports, with 99% of the domestic smartphone demand now being met by local production.
Apple's iPhone production chain was the leading driver of India's smartphone exports, with it contributing nearly 70% of the overall shipments. Foxconn's single plant in Tamil Nadu contributed nearly 50% of the exports, which is a greater than 40% year-on-year growth.
Also, Tata Electronics—having bought Wistron's Karnataka-based smartphone manufacturing facility—added up to 22% of the country's exports. The Tamil Nadu-based Pegatron factory, in which Tata Group acquired a 60% stake earlier this year, accounted for another 12%. With these purchases, the Tata Group has firmly established itself as one of India's major iPhone producers.
Samsung, the South Korean technology giant, also contributed significantly, with about 20% of India's total smartphone exports.
The PLI scheme for electronics manufacturing has seen a total investment of ₹10,213 crore as of December 2024, generating more than 1.37 lakh direct jobs while enormously boosting the export capability of the country, as per official data tabled in Parliament.
Cumulative electronics production under this scheme has reached ₹6,62,247 crore.
Thanks to the government's policies for encouraging electronics manufacturing, India is now a mobile phone exporter from being a mobile importing nation in 2014-15," Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Jitin Prasada, said recently in Parliament.
The influence of the PLI scheme is clearly seen in the boom in the production of mobile phones, which has grown phenomenally from an estimated 60 million units during 2014-15 to about 330 million units in 2023-24—an over fivefold growth during the last ten years.
Mobile phone production in financial terms has grown from ₹19,000 crore in 2014-15 to ₹4,22,000 crore in 2023-24 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41%.
Since the launch of the PLI scheme for large-scale production of electronics, mobile phone exports have increased from ₹22,868 crore in 2020-21 to ₹1,29,074 crore in 2023-24, with a stunning CAGR of 78%.
Ten years ago, 74% of every mobile phone that was sold in India was imported. Now, 99.2% of the handsets used in India are produced within the country, a huge milestone for India's electronics manufacturing story.
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