‘Made in India’ phones go global: Smartphone exports jump 165 times to Rs 2.59 lakh crore
India’s electronics manufacturing sector has seen a major expansion over the last decade, with mobile phone exports recording a 165-fold increase between 2014-15 and 2025-26, the government said in Parliament on Wednesday.Mobile phone exports, which stood at around Rs 1,500 crore in 2014-15, have now reached approximately Rs 2.59 lakh crore in 2025-26, according to a written reply by Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Lok Sabha.The minister also highlighted the growth in domestic mobile phone production, which has risen around 33 times during the same period. Production increased from Rs 18,000 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 6.27 lakh crore in 2025-26.Electronics output expands nearly seven timesIndia’s broader electronics manufacturing base has also witnessed significant growth, with production rising from about Rs 1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26.Electronics exports have grown around 11 times over the decade, increasing from nearly Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 4.24 lakh crore.Vaishnaw said the government has taken targeted policy measures to strengthen electronics manufacturing across different segments of the value chain, including semiconductors and memory chips.Semiconductor programme focuses on fabs, packaging and chip designThe minister said the Semicon India Programme, launched in January 2022, is supporting the development of semiconductor fabrication units, display fabs, semiconductor packaging facilities and indigenous chip design capabilities.Highlighting progress in memory chip manufacturing, Vaishnaw said two companies are currently producing memory chips in India.Micron is manufacturing DRAM, NAND Flash Memory and Solid State Drives, while Sahasra is producing NAND Flash Memory, he said.The government also pointed out that global memory chip supplies have tightened due to increasing demand from artificial intelligence servers, data centres and advanced computing applications, resulting in firmer memory chip prices.Minister Vaishnaw said that the Union Cabinet has approved Semicon 2.0 to further strengthen India’s semiconductor ecosystem and generate opportunities in semiconductor manufacturing, chip design and related industries.The minister said the initiative will help address domestic and global demand while supporting the creation of a resilient electronics manufacturing ecosystem and advancing the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
