India's mobile manufacturing push has fallen short of its FY26 targets, with production reaching $70 billion and exports at $29 billion. According to reports from Business Standard, this performance has delayed the original ambitions by several years, as the five-year production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile phones comes to an end in FY26. In 2023, the targeted value for mobile production was revised by ICEA and brought down to $100 billion, with exports pegged lower at $40-45 billion for FY26. The shortfall was attributed to several factors including slowdown in domestic demand for mobile phones, especially after the government increased the goods and services tax on mobile phones to 18 per cent. Chinese brands, which dominated the domestic market, failed to export as envisaged earlier despite numerous government attempts to push them to do so.
The shortfall was attributed to several factors including slowdown in domestic demand for mobile phones, especially after the government increased the goods and services tax on mobile phones to 18 per cent. As reported by Business Standard, Chinese brands, which dominated the domestic market, failed to export as envisaged earlier despite numerous government attempts to push them to do so. Additionally, the lacklustre performance of Indian champions, home-grown companies incentivised under the PLI scheme, with most failing to deliver or take off sufficiently to become eligible for incentives. According to analysts, the third reason was the lacklustre performance of Indian champions, home-grown companies that were incentivised under the PLI scheme for mobile phones in the hope that they would build brands. But most of them, except a few such as Dixon Technologies (India), failed to deliver or even take off sufficiently to become eligible for the incentives.
According to Business Standard reports, Apple Inc accounted for 68 per cent of exports, highlighting the company's dominance in India's mobile manufacturing landscape. The India-China border clashes in Galwan affected exports, as India decided to close doors to Chinese component companies seeking to enter the country. This affected companies such as Apple Inc, which had to build a new supply chain with homegrown and non-Chinese companies, a process that took time to complete. With the new mobile scheme being notified last week, ICEA's preliminary estimates project that by 2030-31, India would be able to achieve a production value of $110-120 billion, with exports doubling to $60 billion. As per The Times of India, Apple plans to ship most iPhones bound for the US from India by the end of the year, further strengthening India's position as the leading source of smartphones sold in the US.
The Rs 62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) has been launched as the next step in India's mobile manufacturing journey, targeting the development of Indian-owned brands with comprehensive support for design, R&D, and domestic value addition. According to The Times of India, the scheme promises incentives ranging from 2.25% to 5% on eligible sales, with an additional 3% incentive linked to product design and R&D. Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has stated that by mid-2027, India expects its first strong indigenous mobile brand to emerge. The government estimates that the scheme will help take cumulative mobile phone production to around Rs 39 lakh crore during its five-year tenure. This represents a significant shift from import substitution to deeper integration with global supply chains, with the broader aim of positioning India as a manufacturing hub capable of competing with China.
With the new mobile scheme being notified last week, ICEA's preliminary estimates project that by 2030-31, India would be able to achieve a production value of $110-120 billion, with exports doubling to $60 billion. As reported by Business Standard, executives in the association say the final numbers will depend on when the slowdown in mobile phone sales, expected to fall by over 14 per cent in 2026-27 due to high memory prices, comes to an end. The vision document had also projected that overall electronics production would hit $300 billion by FY26, which was reworked downwards by ICEA to $225 billion. The India-China border clashes in Galwan also affected exports, as India decided to close the doors to Chinese component companies seeking to enter the country either on their own or through joint ventures. Experts believe that while creating an Indian Xiaomi, Samsung or Apple will be challenging, the MPMS significantly improves India's chances of creating globally competitive mobile phone brands over the next decade, provided private-sector execution delivers on innovation, quality, and customer experience.
