Smartphone exports from India hit Rs 1.55 lakh crore during the April-January period breaking yet another record. Coming on the back of the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, they topped Rs 1.31 lakh crore during FY24. Moreover, January reported the highest-ever monthly exports of Rs 25,000 crore, an increase of 140% over January 2024.
The exports in the 10 months to January are 56% higher than the Rs 99,120 crore worth of smartphone exports achieved by the industry in the corresponding period of FY24.
Nearly 70% of this was contributed by some of Apple’s iPhone vendors with Foxconn, which operates out of Tamil Nadu, contributing about half. Exports from Foxconn exhibited a growth of 43% over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
Nearly 22% came from iPhone vendor Tata Electronics, which has been accelerating production at its Karnataka unit after taking over from Wistron, while 12% came from Tamil Nadu-based Pegatron, in which Tata Electronics has recently acquired a stake. About 20% of the total smartphone exports was contributed by Samsung. The remainder is attributed to domestic companies and merchant exports.
The minister for electronics and information technology (MeitY), Ashwini Vaishnaw, has said he expects smartphone exports to reach $20 billion, or Rs 1.68 lakh crore, during FY25.
Smartphones used to be the country’s 67th-ranked export a decade ago, but are now ranked second. Ever since the PLI scheme was introduced in April 2020 and implemented in its entirety from April 2021, exports have grown every year. They surged from Rs 23,390 crore in FY21 to Rs 47,340 crore in FY22, marking a near doubling. The momentum continued in FY23, with exports doubling again to Rs 91,652 crore. By FY24, exports further climbed to Rs 1.31 lakh crore, reflecting sustained rapid growth.
