NEW DELHI: Led by record production of iPhones, India’s mobile phone exports surged nearly 50% in the first 10 months of this financial year with the value of shipments estimated at Rs 1.5 lakh crore during April-Jan, compared with Rs 1 lakh crore in same period last year.
The surge has been primarily led by a strong push by Apple, which has made its India factories the company’s global manufacturing hubs, parallel to its set-ups in China. It is estimated that iPhone exports during April-Jan were close to Rs 1 lakh crore, against Rs 60,000 crore in the same period last year.
Samsung is relatively smaller with exports estimated at Rs 34,500 crore so far in 2024-25.
Industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said with the establishment of a strong manufacturing base in the country, exports are expected to close the year at Rs 1.8 lakh crore, as against Rs 1.3 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.
“This represents approximately 40% growth over the previous fiscal year… and an estimated over 680% growth since production-linked incentive (PLI) for smartphones was announced in FY21. Mobile phone export is the largest growth driver within electronics, with the US standing out as a key market,” ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said.
The latest numbers released by the commerce department showed that in Jan, electronics goods had overtaken oil products as the second largest item in India’s export basket. The PLI scheme has not only helped boost exports from India but has also resulted in a reduction in imports as nearly 99% of the domestic demand is also catered to by the local production. . “Looking ahead, production is set to reach an estimated Rs 5.1 lakh crore, further cementing India’s emergence as a global manufacturing powerhouse.”
Mohindroo said the scale has been built on the back of govt incentive schemes and rapid investments made by industry. “Moving forward, we will focus on nurturing competitiveness, expanding scale, and strengthening our supply chain. The next phase will involve aggressive integration with the value chain to boost domestic value addition, driving us toward achieving India’s ambitious $500 billion electronics manufacturing target and becoming the largest exporter of smartphones globally.”
While China continues to be the dominant supplier to the iPhone maker globally, India has been coming up strongly over the past few years as companies such as Foxconn and now Tata group have been ramping up production.
Govt believes that with Apple now planning to expand beyond iPhones, there can be a further boost to India’s electronics exports. The company, which currently has no plans to make the MacBook laptops here, is starting production of AirPods in the country.