According to the Ministry of Communications and IT, the total value of the imported telecom products stood at Rs 695.16 billion in 2013-14. The value of telecom products exported was Rs 204.75 billion, resulting in a deficit of Rs 490.41 billion in 2013-14. The ministry added that the value of imports and exports of telecom products for 2012-13 was Rs 572.08 billion and Rs 217.16 billion, respectively.
With regards to the mobile handset market, the ministry has stated that around 130 million units were produced in 2013 while the country imported 185 million mobile handsets in 2013.
Further, the ministry added that the production of mobile handsets in the country is projected to decline by more than 50 per cent as the import of handsets is expected to rise by over 18 per cent in 2014. Subsequently, the ministry has anticipated that around 60 million units will be produced in the country while the imports are estimated to be around 220 million in 2014.
Commenting on the worth of the handset market, it stated that the total value of mobile phones produced in the country was Rs 266.50 billion in 2013 and is expected to decrease to Rs 189.00 billion in 2014. However, the value of imported mobile phones is estimated to increase from Rs 422.00 billion in 2013 to Rs 585.50 billion in 2014.
Meanwhile, the ministry has also stated that the government has been taking various initiatives to promote mobile manufacturing in the country. In this regard, it has imposed education cess on imported electronic products to provide parity between domestic goods and imported goods. Also, the government has approved setting up of two semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing facilities to create the ecosystem for design and manufacturing of telecom equipments in the country.
