Mobile phone exports: India gains with PLI scheme as China & Vietnam falter

New Delhi : In a major boost to India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, mobile phone exports from the country gained much ground in FY24 as manufacturing giants like China and Vietnam fell behind.

Railways, I&B and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X on Monday that “Bharat’s focus on manufacturing with ‘Make in India’ and PLI scheme is showing good results.”

As tech giants like Apple continue to shift iPhone manufacturing to India amid political stability and friendly government policies, India captured almost half of the lost market (40.5 per cent) from China and Vietnam in the last fiscal year.

Mobile phone exports from China went down from $136.3 billion in FY23 to $132.5 billion in FY24.

On the other hand, Vietnam saw a drop from $31.9 billion in FY23 to $26.27 billion in the last fiscal year, according to the latest industry data.

India, on the other hand, became a natural choice for mobile phone manufacturers owing to the PLI scheme.

Mobile phone exports from the country touched nearly $16 billion in FY24 from $11 billion in FY23.

Mobile phone production surged from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated Rs 4.10 lakh crore in FY24, registering an increase of 2,000 per cent, as per top electronics industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA).

The overall electronic manufacturing in the country is expected to reach around $250 billion in the next five years.

At present, the electronic exports of the country stand at around $125 to $130 billion. More than 12 lakh new jobs have been created in the electronics manufacturing system in the country.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head, the Industry Intelligence Group at market intelligence firm CMR, expanding the PLI scheme to electronic components manufacturing is a strategic move to address a critical bottleneck in India's domestic electronics ecosystem.

By incentivising local production, the policy will aim to boost domestic manufacturing capabilities and create a more resilient end-to-end electronics value chain.