India Becomes Second Biggest Mobile Phone-Producing Country in the World Under "Make in India" Initiative
Key Highlights :
The Indian government's "Make in India" initiative has been a resounding success, with locally manufactured mobile phone shipments crossing the 2 billion cumulative units mark during 2014-2022, registering a 23 per cent CAGR, according to a new report from market research firm Counterpoint Research. This growth was driven by a huge internal demand, increasing digital literacy and the government's push for local manufacturing and value addition. As a result, India has become the second-biggest mobile phone-producing country in the world.
Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint, commented on the success of the "Make in India" initiative, stating, “We have seen local manufacturing increase over the years to meet domestic demand. In 2022, more than 98% of shipments in the overall Indian market were ‘Made in India’, compared to just 19% when the current government took over in 2014. We have also seen increasing local value addition and supply chain development in the country. Local value addition in India currently stands at an average of more than 15%, compared to the low single digits eight years ago.”
In order to further push local manufacturing and value addition, the Indian government has introduced schemes and initiatives such as the Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP), Make in India, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) and Atma-Nirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India). These initiatives have led to a rise in investments, job creation and overall ecosystem development.
The government is now focusing on making India a semiconductor manufacturing and export hub. To this end, it has proposed a semiconductor PLI scheme and is now focusing more on infrastructure with a proposed investment of $1.4 trillion.
Prachir Singh, Senior Analyst, commented on the impact of the government's initiatives, stating, “The Indian government has launched and executed many schemes, which has resulted in a big jump in mobile phone manufacturing over the years. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the government introduced the Phased Manufacturing Program and increased import duties on completely built units and some key components over the years to push local manufacturing and value addition. Due to all this, exports from India have increased.”
The success of the "Make in India" initiative has been clear, with India becoming the second-biggest mobile phone-producing country in the world and mobile phone shipments crossing the 2 billion cumulative units mark. Going forward, the government is focused on making India a semiconductor hub and increasing exports from the country.
