Premium Smartphone Demand To Drive India’s Production And Exports: MeitY Secretary

New Delhi, Jul 21 (KNN) Rising demand for premium smartphones is expected to boost India’s mobile phone production and exports in value terms, aligning with targets set under the government’s incentive schemes, a senior government official told PTI.

Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) Secretary S Krishnan said the market is witnessing a clear shift towards premiumisation, with higher-end devices contributing more significantly to overall growth. 

"There is going to be premiumization. Premiumization growth will be much heavier. Also adoption of premium phones will also double the export. Analysts are talking about the Indian market," Krishnan noted.

He added that production in India is expected to grow in volume terms as companies shift manufacturing destinations. "The growth that you will see in India is not only in terms of the value going up, but also in terms of the shift of production," PTI reported.

While some industry estimates point to a slowdown in overall sales volumes, the government expects value-driven growth to offset this trend.

Ambitious Targets Under Incentive Schemes

Under the Rs 62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS), the government has projected a sharp rise in domestic smartphone production to Rs 39 lakh crore, up from around Rs 11.5 lakh crore. Exports are also expected to double to Rs 15 lakh crore during the scheme period, compared to Rs 7.5 lakh crore under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme.

India Emerging as a Manufacturing Hub

Major global brands such as Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Google are already producing mobile phones in the country.

"We want the mobile manufacturing ecosystem to drop deep roots in India. Now, that is important for a number of reasons. It needs to survive in broad, deep roots because that is when more advanced electronic manufacturing can also in due course start happening in India. So, that is very critical," Krishnan said.

The government is also working to develop a domestic mobile phone brand and deepen the manufacturing ecosystem. As part of this effort, companies are being offered a 3 per cent incentive on research and development activities.

Push for Semiconductor Self-Reliance

In parallel, the government has launched the Rs 1.27 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 programme to strengthen domestic chip design and manufacturing capabilities.

"We anticipate the total market for chips in India by, say, 2030-31 will be roughly about USD 100 billion. Our belief is we will probably be able to do something like 8 to 10 per cent of the total demand. We are a long way from being self-sufficient in chips that is why we are focusing, saying that we need to do more," the secretary noted.

(KNN Bureau)