Electronics Manufacturing in India

How India became one of the world's largest mobile phone producers, what drove the growth, and the push to make more components domestically.

Electronics manufacturing has become one of India’s fastest-growing industries. Within about a decade, India went from importing most of its mobile phones to becoming the world’s second-largest mobile phone producer.

The growth

In the mid-2010s, India imported most smartphones.
Phased tariffs on imported phones and components encouraged assembly in India.
Production incentives from 2020 rewarded increased manufacturing and exports.
Major companies, including Samsung and Apple’s contract manufacturers like Foxconn, expanded production. By the mid-2020s, a significant share of iPhones sold globally were assembled in India, and smartphones became one of India’s largest exports.

Clusters

Electronics manufacturing is concentrated in clusters such as Noida in Uttar Pradesh, the Chennai region in Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.

Value addition

A key debate is value addition: how much of a phone’s value is actually created in India. Early growth focused on final assembly, with most components, like chips, displays and batteries, imported. Domestic value addition has risen but remains modest for many products.

To deepen the industry, the government launched schemes to attract component manufacturing, including an Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme in 2025, and semiconductor fabrication and assembly projects.

Jobs

Electronics assembly employs large numbers of workers, many of them young women, especially in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Challenges

Dependence on imported components, especially from China.
Competition from Vietnam and other countries.
Tariffs and trade tensions affecting export markets.

The phone that crosses borders

A smartphone assembled in Chennai may contain a chip designed in the United States and made in Taiwan, a display from South Korea and a battery from China. Assembly in India adds jobs and some value, but the most valuable parts come from abroad. Moving up the value chain means making more of these components domestically.

Thinking assembly means making the whole product

Final assembly is important for jobs, but much of a product's value may lie in imported components. Deepening supply chains increases the value created domestically.

Key takeaways

India became the world's second-largest mobile phone producer within about a decade.
Tariffs and production incentives drove growth, and Apple's suppliers expanded in India.
Early growth focused on assembly, with modest but rising domestic value addition.
Component schemes and semiconductor projects aim to deepen the industry.