India’s ₹62,500 crore phone-manufacturing push targets homegrown smartphone brands
The five-year Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme, running through FY31, offers incentives for domestic sourcing, R&D, design and Indian-owned handset brands—aiming to move India beyond assembly into deeper electronics supply chains and global smartphone brand-building.
What happened
Government of India · India’s Rs 62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme will incentivise domestic sourcing, R&D, design and Indian-owned handset brands.
Key facts
- Rs 62,500 crore MPMS outlay
- 5-year scheme through FY 2030-31
- 2.25%-5% incentive on eligible sales
- 3% additional incentive for product design and R&D
- Rs 39 lakh crore projected cumulative mobile production
- 99.2% of phones sold domestically made in India
- Rs 5.5 lakh crore mobile production in FY 2024-25
- Approximately Rs 2 lakh crore mobile exports in FY 2024-25
Why this matters
Strategic buyers should screen Indian handset brands, ODMs, component suppliers and R&D platforms for partnerships or acquisitions that can secure local design capabilities and qualify for scheme-linked incentives.
What to watch
- Final scheme guidelines on incentive rates, eligibility thresholds, domestic-value-addition definitions and treatment of foreign-owned brands.
- Number of Indian-owned brands receiving approvals and their committed R&D, design and manufacturing investments.
- Announcements of localized semiconductor packaging, display, camera, battery-cell and PCB supply investments.
- Changes in handset import duties, component tariffs and government-procurement preferences.
- Quarterly shipment-share gains by Indian brands in the sub-₹20,000 and ₹20,000-₹35,000 segments.
- Evidence of export orders for India-designed handsets rather than assembly-only exports.
- Indian handset brands should secure multiyear component contracts with local suppliers, especially for batteries, PCBs, chargers, camera modules and mechanical parts.
- Retailers should expand shelf space, financing offers and exclusive variants for qualifying Indian-designed 5G phones in the ₹8,000-₹25,000 range.
- Global smartphone brands should evaluate Indian design centers and local supplier partnerships to protect cost competitiveness and access policy benefits.
- Electronics distributors should prepare for higher demand for localized accessories, repair parts, warranty services and reverse-logistics capacity.
- Investors should track whether incentive rules reward genuine Indian intellectual-property ownership versus final-assembly localization.