India may roll out scheme worth billions of dollars to boost local electronics production

New Delhi(The Uttam Hindu):  Buoyed by robust local manufacturing of electronics products, especially mobile phones, the government is reportedly planning to soon roll out incentives worth billions of dollars for domestic companies to manufacture deeper components. The upcoming scheme is likely to provide incentives for manufacturing critical components such as printed circuit boards (PCBs) for devices such as laptops and foster deeper local supply chains, according to reports, citing government sources.

The initiative will position India as a major player in the global electronics market amid growing geopolitical and economic shifts, as global manufacturing giants aim to shift operations away from China. The country aspires to reach $500 billion electronics manufacturing by FY30 while creating 60 lakh jobs. The electronics industry is currently at around $115 billion and global value chains (GVCs) will be key to boosting production and exports from the country, according to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). The electronics industry needs to grow over 20 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to achieve the target of $500 billion by FY30. The country's electronics manufacturing growth story is spearheaded by Apple. As India continues to break all previous records on local mobile manufacturing, tech giant Apple is on course to surpass the FY24 figures of exports from India.

In a new record, Apple reached almost Rs 60,000 crore in iPhone exports from India in the first seven months during the current fiscal (FY25). In the April-October period, the Cupertino-based tech giant exported iPhones worth almost Rs 60,000 crore (over $7 billion), at almost Rs 8,450 crore (nearly $1 billion) worth export each month in the ongoing financial year, according to industry data. Last fiscal (FY24), Apple exported iPhones worth over $10 billion and this fiscal, the tech giant has already achieved 70 per cent of that figure with five months to go — set for a new export record riding on the government’s 'Make in India’ and production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes. Apple manufactured/assembled $14 billion of iPhones in India last fiscal, exported more than $10 billion worth of devices.