Vaishnaw stated Apple’s manufacturing ecosystem in India may ultimately embody different {hardware} classes, constructing on the dimensions the corporate has established via iPhone manufacturing. Google, in the meantime, may use India as a significant export manufacturing hub because it diversifies its provide chain away from China.
Additionally Learn: India proposes extending tax breaks for contract manufacturing in a boost for Apple
The feedback got here as the federal government notified a brand new Rs 62,500-crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme geared toward scaling up manufacturing, rising home worth addition and strengthening Indian smartphone manufacturers.
The scheme, which is able to run from the present monetary yr via 2030-31, replaces the sooner production-linked incentive programme for large-scale electronics manufacturing.
Underneath the brand new scheme, eligible firms will obtain incentives starting from 2.25% to five% of eligible gross sales. An extra incentive of as much as 1.5% might be accessible for firms that supply specified parts domestically, together with show and digital camera modules, enclosures, batteries and USB cables.
India targets deeper localisation
Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan stated the brand new scheme builds on the speedy growth of India’s cell phone manufacturing trade over the previous decade.Cell phone exports elevated 166 instances between 2014 and 2025, registering a compound annual progress price of round 59%, whereas India has turn into the world’s second-largest cell phone producer by quantity.
Additionally Learn: Apple’s India sales top $10 billion on widening retail push
“Cell phones have turn into a central a part of India’s electronics manufacturing and export story,” Krishnan stated.
Cell phones accounted for round 61% of India’s electronics exports final yr, in contrast with about 4% in 2014-15. Their contribution to electronics manufacturing additionally elevated to 48% from round 10% over the identical interval.
Based on the Ministry of Electronics and Info Know-how, smartphones have been India’s largest exported product class in 2025.
The federal government now needs to maneuver the trade past meeting by rising manufacturing scale, bettering international competitiveness and increasing home provide chains.
New incentives for Indian smartphone manufacturers
The scheme additionally features a separate incentive construction for Indian smartphone manufacturers.
Vaishnaw stated the federal government was working with three Indian firms to develop best-in-segment smartphone designs over the following 10 to 14 months, initially concentrating on high-volume market segments.
Indian manufacturers might be eligible for a 5% incentive on eligible gross sales, together with a further 3% incentive for Indian design and analysis and improvement.
The federal government expects the brand new framework to encourage each international producers and home firms to extend manufacturing and sourcing inside India.
Saurabh Agrawal, tax accomplice at EY India, informed TOI that the motivation construction may assist speed up localisation throughout the sector.
“By rewarding incremental gross sales over a transferring baseline with added rewards for localisation, the scheme ought to meaningfully deepen native worth addition and strengthen India’s positioning as a world export hub for cell phones,” he stated.
With inputs from TOI
