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India exports mobile phones worth $1 billion in September

A new record India exports mobile phones worth 1 billion in September

A new record: India exports mobile phones worth $1 billion in September

Photo: ET Now Digital

Thanks to the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, India exported mobile phones worth $1 billion or Rs 8,200 crore in the month of September, a first-time achievement for manufacturers of cellphone devices in the country.

The PLI scheme has helped boost domestic manufacturing of global device makers such as Apple and Samsung. According to Economic Times, cellphone exports from the country more than doubled to $4.2 billion during April-September 2022 from $1.7 billion during the same period last year. The September 2022 export figure is markedly higher than the previous monthly record of $770 million in December 2021. This year every India exported devices worth $700 million each month during the June-August period, the report added.

Exports in September 2022 mark a growth of over 200% from September 2021 shipments.

Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the cellphone industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) told ET the industry is focused on lower tariffs, improved logistics, labor reforms and a deeper ecosystem in order to sustain the high growth.

The growth in exports is primarily driven by Apple contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron as well as Samsung; these companies are the leading global participants of the government’s Rs 40,995-crore PLI scheme announced by the government in April 2020.

Global manufacturers account for 75-80% of total mobile phone exports from India.

ICEA said exports constituted just 1% of India’s production in 2016-17, but the share has increased to 16% in 2021-22. The industry body expects to see this figure rise to 22% of production in 2022-23.

The PLI scheme was aimed to lure manufacturers to set up bases in India and away from China and Vietnam, which are global leaders in cellphone exports. The government aims to increase exports to $60 billion by 2025-26, the report added.

The government wanted to emulate the success of PLI in mobile phone manufacturing and extended the scheme to other sectors such as automobile and auto components, IT hardware, telecom equipment and design, pharmaceuticals, solar modules, metals and mining, textiles and apparel, white goods , drones and advanced chemistry cell batteries.

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