India’s electronics exports have grown fast. In 2025 alone, smartphone exports rose from $24 billion to $30 billion. Government now wants to push that number much higher, and much faster.
Timeline
- 2020: Government launches the PLI Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM), with an outlay of ₹40,995 crore.
- 2020–2025: Production under the scheme reaches about ₹11.01 lakh crore, exceeding its original ₹8.12 lakh crore target.
- 2024: India’s smartphone exports total $24.14 billion for the year.
- 2025: Smartphone exports rise to $30 billion, with iPhones making up roughly 76% of the total.
- 10 July 2026: The Department of Commerce holds a Chintan Shivir on strengthening electronics manufacturing and export competitiveness.
Must Know
- The PLI Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing, launched in 2020, targets mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components.
- It offers an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales over a base year, for 5 years, to eligible companies.
- Both production and exports under the scheme have exceeded their original targets. Production reached about ₹11.01 lakh crore, against an ₹8.12 lakh crore target.
- India’s electronics push has an overall sector target of USD 500 billion annually by 2030. A narrower, separate target aims for USD 150 billion specifically in electronics exports, by the same year.
- The scheme is closely related to, but distinct from, the broader Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme. See IndEco0080 — Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for the sector-agnostic version.
Good to Know
- The scheme’s direct employment potential is over 200,000 jobs, with total (direct plus indirect) potential closer to 800,000.
- Apple’s iPhone exports alone reached about $23 billion in 2025, the single most valuable individual export item from India that year.
- Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata Electronics together assemble around 55 million iPhones a year in India, roughly 14% of Apple’s global iPhone output.
- Foxconn’s new $2.6 billion facility near Bengaluru began test production of iPhone 16 models. It is expected to employ 50,000 workers once fully operational, around 2027.
- Electronics manufacturing sits alongside chip-making as a national priority. See SciTech0035 — India Semiconductor Mission for the component-level effort underpinning this growth.
Current Affairs
- On 23 July 2026, NIELIT and SCL Mohali partnered to put an indigenous 1.2 µm Process Design Kit (PDK) on eChipHub. eChipHub is a national platform for semiconductor design education, run by NIELIT. (Source: PIB)
- Pairing the open-source PDK with open-source EDA tools creates one of India’s first indigenous “design-to-fabrication” learning pathways. NIELIT aims to train nearly 30,000 students in semiconductor design through it. (Source: PIB)
- On 22 July 2026, the government approved 2 new Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) in Tamil Nadu, worth ₹1,012 crore combined. (Source: PIB)
- The EMC at Manallur spans 474.3 acres, costing ₹587.47 crore. The EMC at Pillapaikkam spans 379.3 acres, costing ₹424.55 crore. (Source: PIB)
- The government also released fresh national growth data. Electronics production rose sevenfold since 2014-15, from about ₹1.9 lakh crore to ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26. (Source: PIB)
- Mobile phone production grew even faster, 33 times over, from about ₹18,000 crore to ₹6.27 lakh crore. Mobile phone exports grew 165 times, to about ₹2.59 lakh crore. (Source: PIB)
- India now manufactures about 99.2% of the mobile phones sold domestically. They are now the country’s single largest exported item, and electronics manufacturing employs nearly 25 lakh people. (Source: PIB)
- Under the Semicon India Programme, 12 semiconductor manufacturing projects have been approved across 6 states. These carry investment commitments of about ₹1.64 lakh crore, and 3 plants already have commercial production underway. (Source: PIB)
- Under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, 24 semiconductor design projects have been approved for financial support. A further 105 startups and MSMEs get support for chip-design (EDA) tools. (Source: PIB)
- Semiconductor talent development now covers 315 institutes nationwide, including 61 in Tamil Nadu. (Source: PIB)
- 15 July 2026: The Union Cabinet approved the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS), a ₹62,500 crore, 5-year scheme succeeding PLI-LSEM.
- 10 July 2026: The Department of Commerce organises a Chintan Shivir at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on strengthening electronics manufacturing and export competitiveness.
- Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal called for a stable, predictable policy framework, to help global electronics value chains expand their presence in India.
- The Shivir presented a roadmap to USD 150 billion in electronics exports by 2030, covering smartphones, servers, and specialty electronics and components.
- Industry participants, including Apple, Samsung, Foxconn, and Tata Electronics, discussed integrating MSMEs into global value chains, and harmonising HS Codes to reduce export friction.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- India’s electronics story has shifted from assembly to deeper manufacturing. Early PLI rounds rewarded final assembly; newer policy discussions, like the 2026 Chintan Shivir, focus more on components and value chains.
- Global value chains account for nearly 90% of global electronics trade. The Shivir pushed to integrate Indian MSMEs into these chains, as suppliers to large manufacturers. The goal is exports built on more than a handful of large assemblers.
- Two similar-sounding but distinct numbers are worth keeping straight for exams. USD 500 billion is the overall electronics sector target by 2030. USD 150 billion is the narrower electronics export target, for that same year.
Leave a Reply