India's mobile phone exports to touch $5.5B in FY22
The growth in mobile phone exports has also been tipped to outpace the rise in overall electronics exports from India, which is estimated to increase from $10.6 billion in FY21 to around $15 billion in the current fiscal year
India's Mobile phone exports will increase by 75 per cent from $3.16 billion in 2020-21 to over $5.5 billion in the current fiscal year, a report said on Thursday.
The primary driver of this outstanding performance is the smartphone PLI Scheme launched on 1 April , 2020, aimed at shifting GVCs to India and increasing India's share in global exports, according to data projections made by industry body, India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), reports Economic Times.
"The unprecedented increase in smartphone exports is a tribute to government-industry partnership under the most trying circumstances. The government led with its vision and trust in the mobile industry. The industry, in turn, has redefined Atmanirbhar Bharat as Make in India for the World. We are just getting started," Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA, said in a statement.
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The industry body, which counts Apple and Foxconn among its members, said that while India exported mobile phones worth $3.16 billion in FY21, this figure could rise to over $5.5 billion in FY22, by the end of this fiscal year. This marks a rise of over 75% in total export of mobile phones from India, which can be attributed to the PLI scheme offered to attract mobile phone manufacturers to India.
A total of 14 companies have been approved to reap the benefits of the smartphone PLI scheme, which was announced in April 2020 with total benefit outlay of ₹40,951 crore (about $5.36 billion). However, the first year saw the covid-19 pandemic hurt production as factories were shut due to lockdowns. In June 2021, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) stated that the timeline for meeting production targets has been increased by one year, counting FY21 as year zero, reports Times of India.
After an uncertain start in 2020, owing to multiple Covid waves, the industry stabilised operations in 2021 and has delivered results that exceed expectations.
Increase in mobile phone exports also marks an important shift in the export basket which is gradually transforming from primary commodities to more value-added, high-end products driven by technology industries.
The smartphone PLI saw participation from five global companies — Samsung, Foxconn Hon Hai, Rising Star, Wistron and Pegatron — and Indian champions, including Lava, Bhagwati (Micromax), Padget Electronics, UTL Neolyncs and Optiemus Electronics.
During a 5-year period, the approved companies under the PLI scheme are expected to lead to total production of over Rs 10.5 lakh crore, of which nearly 60 per cent will be contributed by exports to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakh crore.
It is also expected that during this period, nearly 8 lakh new jobs (2 lakh direct and 6 lakh indirect jobs) will be created in the country.
