India’s smartphone industry has achieved significant growth. India is now the fifth-highest exporting product in the country, crossing Rs 1 lakh crore in the ‘Techade’. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, expressed his belief that this achievement positions India as a major player in the global electronics market in the years to come. He noted that India’s electronics sector has undergone a transformative journey. It shifts from importing 82% of all smartphones in 2014 to manufacturing almost 100% of them domestically.
In an interview with IANS, Minister Chandrasekhar highlighted India’s rising status as a trusted partner in the global electronics supply chains. He acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a reevaluation of global supply chains. And India is actively working to increase its share and presence in these chains. In 2014, India’s electronics manufacturing was valued at less than Rs 1 lakh crore. However, the government aims to increase this figure to Rs 24 lakh crore by 2026. It will be a remarkable 24-fold growth in just over a decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The minister further emphasized that India’s smartphone exports, which were nonexistent in 2014, have now surpassed Rs 1 lakh crore. Hence, become the country’s fifth-highest exported product.
Favourable Government Policies
The favourable government policies and the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme have played a crucial role in boosting India’s mobile exports. It is projected that India’s mobile exports will exceed Rs 1,20,000 crore in the current fiscal year. Whereas tech giant Apple is a key contributor. The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) reported that smartphone exports reached an impressive value of over Rs 90,000 crore in the fiscal year 2022-2023. Minister Chandrasekhar described the government’s approach as aiming to “broaden and deepen” the electronics ecosystem, creating scale and volumes that will enable the development of a comprehensive component ecosystem in India.
Furthermore, the minister highlighted the recently announced PLI scheme for IT hardware. It has a budgetary outlay of Rs 17,000 crore. This initiative aims to promote the manufacturing of laptops, data centres, and server infrastructure in India. It is expected to result in a total production value of approximately Rs 3.35 lakh crore. It also attracts additional investments of Rs 2,430 crore in electronics manufacturing and generates an estimated 75,000 direct jobs.
Minister Chandrasekhar also acknowledged the rapid pace of technological innovation, emphasizing that change is the only constant in the tech industry. He highlighted the increased prevalence of disruptive technologies and the growing digital economy. This has risen from around 4% of India’s GDP in 2014 to 10% today. With the enterprise and energy of young Indians, the minister anticipates that the digital economy will contribute around 20% to India’s GDP by 2026. This expectation of the growth is to generate by 60-65 million employment opportunities in the digital economy by 2025-26.
Expressing his enthusiasm for India’s technological advancements, Minister Chandrasekhar expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for creating the opportunities that have brought India to its current position. He also believes that the future holds great promise for India’s continued growth and innovation.
