The Pillar of Digital India - Mobile Manufacturing

Over the past few years, mobile handset manufacturing has rapidly gathered pace in India. The country could emerge as a major exporter in the future. Local electronics manufacturing has been identified as one of the main pillars of the Digital India programme, launched by the Government of India. The government is targeting net-zero imports of mobile handsets by 2020. Considering the rapid rise in the demand for electronics, it can be a major area of concern for India. It is projected that electronics demand in India will lead to an import requirement of US$ 300 billion by 2020 (Source: Assocham-NEC report).

In the current scenario, India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China with sales growing at a brisk pace. With demand for mobiles ranging from the Samsung 4G phone to the Xiaomi smartphone, shipments of smartphones to India reached 33.5 million in Q2, 2018, seeing year-on-year growth of 19.8%. The easy availability of electronics with innovative payment options is also fueling demand. One can buy a wide range of electronics from the latest mobile handsets to the trendiest television sets on Bajaj Finserv EMI Store at No Cost EMI. With such streamlined options available in the Indian market, the import of electronics has exceeded the import of gold, making it India’s second-largest import category after oil. What’s more, electronics imports have doubled in the past 5 years whereas net deficit on gold has come down.

Source: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

There are many reasons why electronics manufacturing can be considered the key pillar of the Digital India initiative. Its roots can be traced back to 2015, when the cabinet gave the approval to extend the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS), providing subsidy amounting to 20% for investments made in special economic zones (SEZs) and 25% for investments in non-SEZs, on a reimbursement basis. By the end of February 2018, 322 applications with investments amounting to Rs 133,861 crore had been received, out of which 148 applications with investments amounting to Rs 12,253 crore had been approved. The manufacturing of mobile phones in the country has also witnessed a boom. In 2014-15, US$ 2.5 billion worth of phones were manufactured in the country. It has grown nearly eightfold to in three years to touch US$ 20 billion in 2017-18.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) received nearly 50 applications under the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) Scheme, of which 20 greenfield EMCs & three common facility centres (CFCs) have been approved, as of February 28, 2018. The Electronics Development Fund set up by the Government, has a corpus of US$ 320 million to provide risk capital for startups planning to develop new technology in electronics, nano-electronics and information technology.

Robust local demand is another incentive for companies to manufacture in the country. The emergence of various platforms and ease of payments is helping the electronics sector. One can buy the latest gadgets and appliances like TVs, air conditioners and mobile handsets from leading brands like Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Vivo, Redmi and many, many more on the Bajaj Finserv EMI Store. You can also pay through the UPI facility on the Bajaj Markets App. UPI provides a secure and super fast medium of transaction and brings convenience and flexibility to the user’s doorstep.

As digitization takes India by storm, the scope for mobile manufacturing in India is growing by unprecedented amounts. As the digital revolution sweeps across the country, innovative distribution channels open up, and demand rises, India is sure to emerge as a mobile manufacturing hub in the coming years.