According to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Railways, India has made significant progress in mobile and electronics manufacturing and become the world’s 2nd largest mobile manufacturing country. In 2014, India had only 2 mobile manufacturing units but fast forward to today, the nation boasts over 300 manufacturing units, underscoring a significant expansion in this vital sector.
In 2014-15, only 26 per cent of the mobile phones which were being sold in India were made in India, the rest were being imported. It is worth mentioning that today, 99.2 per cent of all mobile phones which are sold in India are made in India. The manufacturing value of mobile phones has surged from Rs 189 billion in the financial year (FY) 14 to a staggering Rs 4.22 trillion in FY24.
More than 325 to 330 million mobile phones a year are being manufactured in India and on average there are about a billion mobile phones in use in India. Indian mobile phones have virtually saturated the domestic market and that’s there’s a substantial uptick in the exports of mobile phones. The exports, which were almost non-existent in 2014, have now surpassed Rs 1.29 trillion.
The sector’s expansion has also been a major employment driver, creating approximately 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs over the decade. These employment opportunities have not only uplifted the economic status of numerous families but also contributed to the socio-economic fabric of the country.
Further, the ‘Make in India’ initiative has been pivotal in achieving these milestones. It has enabled the domestic production of critical components and sub-assemblies such as chargers, battery packs, mechanics of all types, USB cables, and more complex components like Lithium Ion Cells, speaker and microphones, display assemblies and camera modules.
Looking forward, the focus will intensify on advancing deeper into the value chain, particularly in the production of components and semiconductors. This shift is part of a broader strategy to enhance self-reliance and establish India as a leading player in the global electronics market.
Furthermore, Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned that the focus is now on advancing deeper into the value chain, with an increased emphasis on fine components and semiconductor production, thereby ensuring the indigenous development of the electronic component ecosystem. This will bolster India’s stance as a leading electronics market globally.
Between 1950 and 1990, restrictive policies stifled manufacturing. However, ‘Make in India’ is reversing that trend by moving deeper into the value chain and increasing the production of components and chips.
The setting up a semiconductor manufacturing base in the country has been an important part of Make in India, which India has been attempting to achieve for over six decades. With the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission and the five major projects which have been approved, starting with Micron, the two projects by Tata Electronics, the one project by CG Power, and the last project by Keynes, a real manufacturing base of semiconductors in this country is being established in India.
