Vaishnaw said Apple’s manufacturing ecosystem in India could eventually encompass other hardware categories, building on the scale the company has established through iPhone production. Google, meanwhile, could use India as a major export manufacturing hub as it diversifies its supply chain away from China.
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The comments came as the government notified a new Rs 62,500-crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme aimed at scaling up production, increasing domestic value addition and strengthening Indian smartphone brands.
The scheme, which will run from the current financial year through 2030-31, replaces the earlier production-linked incentive programme for large-scale electronics manufacturing.
Under the new scheme, eligible companies will receive incentives ranging from 2.25% to 5% of eligible sales. An additional incentive of up to 1.5% will be available for companies that source specified components domestically, including display and camera modules, enclosures, batteries and USB cables.
India targets deeper localisation
Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the new scheme builds on the rapid expansion of India’s mobile phone manufacturing industry over the past decade.Mobile phone exports increased 166 times between 2014 and 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate of around 59%, while India has become the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer by volume.
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“Mobile phones have become a central part of India’s electronics manufacturing and export story,” Krishnan said.
Mobile phones accounted for around 61% of India’s electronics exports last year, compared with about 4% in 2014-15. Their contribution to electronics manufacturing also increased to 48% from around 10% over the same period.
According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, smartphones were India’s largest exported product category in 2025.
The government now wants to move the industry beyond assembly by increasing manufacturing scale, improving global competitiveness and expanding domestic supply chains.
New incentives for Indian smartphone brands
The scheme also includes a separate incentive structure for Indian smartphone brands.
Vaishnaw said the government was working with three Indian companies to develop best-in-segment smartphone designs over the next 10 to 14 months, initially targeting high-volume market segments.
Indian brands will be eligible for a 5% incentive on eligible sales, along with an additional 3% incentive for Indian design and research and development.
The government expects the new framework to encourage both global manufacturers and domestic companies to increase production and sourcing within India.
Saurabh Agrawal, tax partner at EY India, told TOI that the incentive structure could help accelerate localisation across the sector.
“By rewarding incremental sales over a moving baseline with added rewards for localisation, the scheme should meaningfully deepen local value addition and strengthen India’s positioning as a global export hub for mobile phones,” he said.
With inputs from TOI
