Economic Survey: Electronics on course to be India's second biggest export, powered by mobile manufacturing

electronics

• Electronics exports hit $22.2B in H1 FY26, close to second-largest segment.
• Mobile phone manufacturing surged, making India world's second-largest producer
• Government schemes like PLI and ECMS boosted investment and local production

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India’s electronics sector has vaulted into the top tier of the country’s export basket, rising from the seventh-largest export category in FY22 to the third-largest and fastest-growing in FY25, according to the Economic Survey 2026 that was tabled in Parliament on January 29.

The momentum has continued into the first half of FY26, with exports touching $22.2 billion, placing electronics on track to become India’s second-largest export segment.

The rise marks a structural shift in India’s manufacturing landscape, driven by higher domestic production and a decisive pivot toward exports. Expanding output and deeper integration into global value chains have powered the sector’s rapid ascent.

Mobile phone manufacturing has been the anchor of this transformation. Production value in the segment has surged nearly 30-fold over the past decade — from Rs 18,000 crore in FY15 to Rs 5.45 lakh crore in FY25 — making it one of the most dramatic industrial expansions in recent years.

India has moved from being a net importer of mobile phones to the world’s second-largest manufacturer. The number of mobile manufacturing units has grown from just two in 2014 to more than 300 today, reflecting large-scale investments in assembly, components and supply-chain infrastructure.

Policy support has played a central role. The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, launched in 2020, has generated cumulative production of Rs 9.34 lakh crore, exports of Rs 5.12 lakh crore and investments of Rs 13,759 crore as of September 2025. The PLI 2.0 scheme for IT hardware, introduced in 2023, has delivered production worth Rs 14,462.7 crore and investments of Rs 892.47 crore.

To deepen localisation, the government notified the Rs 22,919 crore Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) in April 2025 to strengthen the component ecosystem through turnover-linked and capital expenditure incentives. Complementing this, the Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC and EMC 2.0) schemes have approved 30 clusters and five common facility centres to provide plug-and-play infrastructure.

The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) has approved 58 applications involving proposed investments of Rs 22,081 crore, offering 25% financial incentives on capital expenditure.

Meanwhile, under the Rs 76,000 crore semiconductor programme, the India Semiconductor Mission has cleared major projects including Micron’s ATMP facility and Tata Electronics’ semiconductor fab, alongside multiple packaging units and chip design initiatives.