India Aims for 35 to 40 Percent Domestic Value Addition in Mobile Phones, Says MeitY Secretary

India is aiming to increase domestic value addition in mobile phone manufacturing to between 35% and 40%, moving up from the current level of approximately 22% to 23%, according to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary S Krishnan. The push follows substantial growth in domestic output and exports over the past decade, positioning mobile devices as the nation’s top export product in fiscal year 2025-26.

What Happened

Addressing the progress of India’s electronics manufacturing, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan outlined the sector’s transition from early assembly operations to deeper component manufacturing. When mobile phone assembly initially expanded in India, domestic value addition stood at around 15%. That figure reached 23% in FY2023-24 and currently stands around 22% to 23%, with the government setting a medium-term target of 35% to 40%.

Government data reveals that overall electronics production in India rose from ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26. Over the same timeline, electronics exports expanded from ₹38,000 crore to ₹4.24 lakh crore, with the entire ecosystem supporting nearly 25 lakh jobs. Mobile phones spearheaded this growth, with production surging from ₹18,900 crore to ₹6.27 lakh crore and exports jumping from ₹1,566 crore to ₹2.60 lakh crore, making mobile phones India’s largest single export product in FY2025-26.

Key Highlights

• Domestic Value Addition: India is targeting 35% to 40% domestic value addition, up from 15% at the inception of manufacturing and 22% to 23% at present.
• Global Standing: India is now the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer, with 99.2% of mobile handsets used domestically being produced within the country.
• New Mobile Manufacturing Scheme: A scheme with an outlay of ₹62,500 crore has been cleared for five years, covering FY2026-27 through FY2030-31, to enhance scale, competitiveness, and supply-chain resilience.
• Component Ecosystem (ECMS): The Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, originally approved in March 2025 with ₹22,919 crore, was expanded to ₹40,000 crore in Budget 2026. A total of 75 applications across 23 product lines have been approved, projected to bring ₹61,671 crore in investment, ₹4.51 lakh crore in production, and 65,040 direct jobs.
• Semiconductor Expansion: Under the semiconductor programme, 12 projects involving ₹1.64 lakh crore in committed investment have been approved. Three facilities are operational, two or three more are expected online by late 2026, and the Semicon 2.0 scheme was approved in July 2026 with a budget of ₹1,27,500 crore.

Why This Matters

Secretary Krishnan emphasized that assembly played a vital foundational role by generating scale and employment, with large facilities employing between 50,000 and 70,000 workers. Building volume through assembly serves as the precursor to localized component manufacturing.

To deepen the domestic footprint, government policy is shifting toward critical subassemblies and parts—such as printed circuit boards, electromechanical items, camera modules, and optical transceivers. Krishnan noted that international export demand will serve as the true benchmark of whether Indian-made intermediate components achieve global cost and quality competitiveness.

Furthermore, precision manufacturing and miniaturisation capabilities developed in mobile manufacturing can serve as the technical base for other complex categories, including augmented reality and virtual reality headsets and smart glasses. Krishnan framed this not as complete self-sufficiency, but as achieving strategic autonomy to prevent dependency on a single geography within global supply networks.

What to Watch Next

Implementation of the newly approved ₹62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme will unfold between FY2026-27 and FY2030-31. In the semiconductor segment, an additional two to three approved facilities are slated to become operational by the end of 2026, operating alongside units that have already begun manufacturing against confirmed customer orders.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is India’s current domestic value addition in mobile phones?

Domestic value addition in mobile phone manufacturing stands at approximately 22% to 23%, having previously reached 23% in FY2023-24.

What is the government’s target for domestic value addition?

The government aims to achieve 35% to 40% domestic value addition in mobile phone production.

What is the budgetary outlay for the new mobile manufacturing scheme?

The government has approved a new Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme with a budgetary allocation of ₹62,500 crore spanning five fiscal years, from FY2026-27 to FY2030-31.

How many semiconductor projects are currently active in India?

Three semiconductor projects are currently operational, with another two or three anticipated to come online by the end of 2026 out of 12 total approved projects.

Source: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology statements reported via Business Today.