Before I became PM, India was importer of mobile phones; now we have become world's second largest exporter of these phones Says PM Modi

In recent times, India has laid much emphasis on smartphone exports. In November 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded phone exports as they crossed the $5 billion mark. At the 2023 India Mobile Congress, Mr. Modi said “soon the whole world will be using made-in-India phones”. The government credited the Production Linked Incentive scheme for major smartphone companies shifting their suppliers to India. These were in line with the ambitious target set in the National Policy on Electronics 2019, that India will be exporting 600 million mobile phones worth $110 billion by 2025.

With barely a year left for this goal, India’s smartphone exports are hovering below $10 billion a year, just a fraction of the target. While India continues to manufacture a significant number of smartphones, most of it is consumed domestically.

The Indian government reduced import duty on mobile parts such as lenses, battery and back covers from 15% to 10%, by January-end.

Hong Kong, UAE, the Czech Republic, the U.S. and South Korea are other players in the export market.

In UAE and Germany — the world’s third and fifth biggest smartphone importers —Vietnam’s share in imports is decreasing and in both these countries India’s share is growing. India’s share in UAE’s smartphone imports increased from about 5% in 2018 to over 13% in 2022, while Vietnam’s declined from 31.8% to 13.5%. In Germany, Vietnam’s share declined from about 20% to 10% in 2022, while India’s increased to about 5% from a negligible share in 2018. In the US, India's share of the market is also fair.

Within India, Tamil Nadu leads smartphone exports with close to 38% of India’s mobiles being sent out from Kancheepuram. Gautam Buddha Nagar of Uttar Pradesh and Kolar in Karnataka are other districts leading in smartphone exports.