India's smartphone exports set a new record of Rs 1.55 trillion from April to January. Exports increased by more than Rs 1.31 trillion in FY24, thanks to the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. January (2025) alone saw the highest-ever monthly exports of Rs 250 billion, a 140 percent increase over January 2024.
Exports in the ten months leading up to January were 56% higher than the Rs 991.2 billion recorded in the same period of FY24.
Apple's iPhone vendors accounted for nearly 70% of these exports, with Foxconn's Tamil Nadu facility contributing roughly half. Foxconn's exports increased by 43% compared to the previous fiscal year.
Tata Electronics, which has increased production at its Karnataka unit since taking over Wistron's operations, accounted for nearly 22%. Pegatron, based in Tamil Nadu, contributed 12%, while Tata Electronics recently acquired a stake in the company. Samsung contributed approximately 20% of total smartphone exports, with the remainder coming from domestic firms and merchant exports.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister for electronics and information technology (MeitY), expects smartphone exports to reach $20 billion (Rs 1.68 trillion) in FY25.
Smartphones were India's 67th largest export a decade ago, but they now rank second. Exports have increased year after year since the PLI scheme was introduced in April 2020 and will be fully implemented in April 2021. They increased from Rs 233.9 billion in FY21 to Rs 473.4 billion in FY22, almost doubling.
The momentum continued in FY23, with exports doubling to Rs 916.5 billion. By FY24, exports had risen to Rs 1.31 trillion, indicating continued rapid growth.
What is the PLI scheme?
Through financial incentives, the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme seeks to promote domestic manufacturing. India is to become a global center for exports, innovation, and manufacturing.
For large-scale electronics manufacturing, the PLI Scheme offers financial incentives to increase domestic production and draw in large investments. In order to improve India's position in the global supply chain, this includes cell phones and particular electronic components.
"Within three years of the Telecom PLI scheme, the scheme has attracted an investment of Rs 3,400 crore, the telecom equipment production has exceeded the milestone of Rs 50,000 crore with exports totalling approximately Rs 10,500 crore, creating more than 17,800 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs," stated a notification from the government dated July 2024.
