Smartphone: Now The 4th Largest Export Item From India

India’s smartphone export industry is rapidly progressing, surging ahead to become the fourth-largest export item. This impressive growth of 42% has catapulted the total exports to a staggering $15.6 billion in FY24, as reported by Business Standard. The rise in exports clearly indicates the momentum and potential of India’s export industry, with shipments to the United Arab Emirates, The Netherlands, The United States, and The United Kingdom driving this growth.

India started tracking smartphone exports separately in April 2022. According to that data, smartphones have surpassed motor gasoline in export rankings compared to last year. Petroleum products like Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Aviation Turbine Fuel, and Superior Kerosene Oil are still top exports from India. 

The United States welcomed $5.6 billion worth of shipments among the exporting destinations. According to the report from the Commerce Department, it increased 158% year-on-year. The United Arab Emirates exported $2.6 billion worth of smartphones from India, the Netherlands $1.2 billion and the UK $1.1 billion. The aggregate value of smartphones produced in India for export and domestic markets in FY24 grew to Rs4.1 lakh crore ($49.16 billion), which shows a 17% increase YoY. 

The report from Business Standard added that this growth could be a result of the government’s successful PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme for the sector. The PLI scheme has pushed India to second position among the largest smartphone-manufacturing countries in the world. Now, India is only behind China in smartphone manufacturing. 
India witnessed a surge in mobile exports, mainly due to the PLI scheme. The scheme has also benefited India’s strategy of attracting companies manufacturing in China to shift to India. Currently, Foxconn, Tata Electronics, Pegatron, and Samsung are eligible firms under PLI.