Mobile phone manufacturing jumps 21 times to Rs 4.1 lakh crore in 10 years: ICEA

Mobile phone manufacturing in value terms jumped 21-fold to Rs 4.1 lakh crore in India in the last 10 years as government policy measures like PLI played a critical role in attracting global players to boost local production, industry body ICEA said in a statement.

India now produces 97 per cent of its total mobile phone demand locally and 30 per cent of the total production in financial year 2024 is meant for export, the India Cellular and Electronics Association said.

"Mobile phone production surged from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated Rs 4,10,000 crore in FY'24, registering an increase of 2000 per cent. In 2014-15, mobile phone exports from India were a mere Rs 1,556 crore. The industry expects to end FY24 with an estimated export of Rs 1,20,000 crore. This would mean a 7500 per cent increase in exports over a decade," ICEA said.

According to a note on manufacturing, in the field of smartphones, Apple and Samsung, have played a crucial role in boosting mobile phone exports from the country.

India manufactured devices are being exported in large volumes to the UK, Netherlands, Austria, and Italy besides Middle East and North Africa and South American markets, the note said.

"30 per cent of production in FY'24 will now be meant for exports. The industry expects to end FY'24 with an estimated export of Rs 1.2 lakh crore. Driven by this export growth, mobile phones have now become India's 5th largest export as an individual commodity," the industry body said.

In May 2017, the Indian government announced the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) to promote the domestic production of mobile handsets. This initiative helped build a robust indigenous mobile manufacturing ecosystem in India and incentivized large-scale manufacturing. From just 2 mobile phone factories in 2014, India now has become the second largest mobile phone producer in the world.

The Production Linked Incentive scheme for Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM) and for IT hardware has played an instrumental role in making India a competitive destination for electronics manufacturing. The PLI scheme offers incentives ranging from 3 to 5 per cent of the incremental sales value for a stipulated period to eligible players.

The PLI scheme has attracted leading global contract manufacturers, including Foxconn, Pegatron, Rising Star and Wistron to set up a production base in India. Samsung on the other hand, operates its second-largest mobile phone factory in Noida.

"This exponential growth in production, exports and self-sufficiency stems from a conducive policy environment, and a close working relationship between industry and key Government Ministries such as the Ministry of Electronics and IT, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, NITI Aayog and the PMO," ICEA said.