India’s mobile phone exports grow 250% in June quarter

The country has seen a sharp decline in mobile phone imports over the past year, dropping to ₹600 crore in the first quarter of 2021-22, from ₹3100 crore a year a, the industry body said. 

 “This is an all-time low since 2014-15,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of the ICEA. The industry body counts companies like Apple, Foxconn and many others among its members.

Mobile phone exports during the first quarter of 2021-22 stood at ₹4600 crore, up over three times from the ₹1300 crore in the same quarter in 2020-21.

“Despite the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, prudent policy of the Government of India (GoI) to continue manufacturing and backed by the PLI scheme, industry has made significant progress in manufacturing and exports,” Mohindroo said. “Electronic goods export has also shown a tremendous rise of 100% (YOY) in Q1 2021-22 crossing the mark of INR 20,000 Crore.” 

Increase in mobile exports is a key goal for the government’s PLI scheme, which aims to build scale in Indian electronics manufacturing. A scheme to attract semiconductor and display manufacturers is also expected soon, with companies like the Tata Group planning to enter the space.

On the other hand, imports grew in the laptops and tablet category, showing a significant increase in the first quarter. The sector saw ₹6000 crore worth of imports in 2020-21, which grew to ₹10,000 crore in 2021-22. The government had also announced a PLI scheme for IT hardware earlier this year, the recipients of which were approved in July this year. The scheme offers 2-4% cash incentives on net incremental sales over the base year of FY20.