Make in India, a flagship initiative of Government of India (GoI) launched in 2014, has been a cornerstone in transforming India into a global manufacturing hub. Its key objectives were to enhance industrial capabilities, foster innovation and to develop world-class infrastructure.
- As a result, India’s electronics exports are expanding swiftly, with the country’s electronics production projected to reach USD 300 billion by 2026.
Key Progress made by Smartphones in India:
i.India has made significant strides in mobile and electronics manufacturing and become the world’s 2nd largest mobile manufacturing country as the number of mobile manufacturing units in India increased from 2 (in 2014) to over 300 manufacturing units (at present).
ii.Only 26% of mobile phones sold in India were locally made in 2014-15, increasing to 99.2% by December 2024.
iii.The manufacturing value of mobile phones has increased from Rs 18,900 crore in Financial Year 2013-14 (FY14) to Rs 4.22 lakh crore in the Financial Year(FY24).
iv.The export of India’s mobile phones has increased by 77-times, from Rs 1,566 crore in FY15 to Rs 1.29 lakh crore in FY24.
v.Over 325 to 330 million mobile phones a year being manufactured in India and on average there about 1 billion mobile phones in use in India.
Key Initiatives/Schemes:
Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP):
i.It has been notified to promote domestic value addition in mobile phones and their sub-assemblies or parts manufacturing in 2017. It aims to promote large-scale production and create a robust local manufacturing ecosystem for mobile devices.
ii.The manufacturing of mobile phones has been gradually transitioning from Semi Knocked Down(SKD) to Completely Knock Down (CKD) level, thus increasing the domestic value addition.
Note: SKD means a product partially assembled before shipping, while CKD refers to a product, which is shipped as individual components for final assembly at the destination.
Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI):
i.The scheme was officially notified on April 1, 2020, aimed to accelerate domestic manufacturing and attract investment in mobile phones value chain including electronic components and semiconductor packaging.
ii.The scheme covers various sectors such as: mobile manufacturing and specified electronic components; manufacturing of medical devices; pharmaceuticals drugs; telecom & networking products; droned and drone components; food products, among others
iii.The scheme offers an incentive of 3% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments like: mobile phones and specified electronic components, to eligible companies, for a period of 5 years.
iv.The budgetary allocation for Electronics surged from Rs 5,747 crore Revised Estimate (RE) for 2024-25 to Rs 8,885 crore in 2025-26.
v.As of February 2025, PLI for large scale electronics manufacturing has led to: combined investment of Rs 10,905 crore; combined production of Rs 7,15,823 crore; and Combined exports of Rs 3, 90,387 crore.
Semicon India Program:
i.The Semicon India Program was officially launched in 2021 with a total budget outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. It is designed to promote the local semiconductor industry through incentives and strategic partnerships.
ii.The scheme provides support to various sectors of the semiconductor industry, extending beyond just fabrication facilities (fabs) to include packaging, display wires, Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing (OSATs), and other important components.
iii.The GoI has introduced 4 schemes under this programme, and which are:
- Modified Scheme for setting up of Semiconductor Fabs in India: It extends a financial support of 50% of the total project cost on pari-passu basis (on equal footing) for establishing Silicon Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) based semiconductor fabs in India.
- Modified Scheme for setting up of Display Fabs in India: It extends a financial support of 50% of the total project cost on pari-passu basis for establishing display fabs in India.
- Modified Scheme for setting up of compound semiconductors/ silicon photonics/sensors fab, among others: It extends a financial support of 50% of the capital expenditure on pari-passu basis.
- Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme: The scheme offers ‘Product Design Linked Incentive’ of maximum 50% of the eligible expenditure subject to a ceiling of Rs 13 crore per application; and also offers ‘deployment linked incentive’ in the range of 6% to 4% of total sales turnover over 5 years subject to a ceiling of Rs 30 crore per application.
Key Projects:
i.In 2023, the GoI had approved the 1st major project with the United States of America (USA)-based chip maker company, Micron Technology Inc. for approximately Rs 22,000 crore.
ii.In February 2024, the proposal of Mumbai (Maharashtra)-based wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) for setting up a semiconductor fab facility in Dholera, Gujarat (India) with estimated cost of Rs 91,526 crore was approved by the GoI.
- The proposed fab facility will be established in a technology partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC), Taiwan.
- In March 2025, Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM), TEPL and Tata Semiconductor Manufacturing Private Limited (TSMPL) have signed a Fiscal Support Agreement (FSA) for India’s 1st commercial semiconductor fab in Dholera, Gujarat.
iii.Also, GoI had approved another proposal of Jagiroad (Assam)-based Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt. Limited (TSAT), India’s 1st indigenous and greenfield semiconductor assembly test facility for setting up of OSAT facility in Morigaon, Assam, with an investment of Rs 27,120 crore in February 2024.
iv.In 2024, Mumbai (Maharashtra)-based CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited’s proposal for setting up an OSAT facility in Sanand, Gujarat with an investment of Rs 7,584 crore was approved.
- The facility will be established as a Joint Venture (JV) partnership with (United States of America, USA)-based Renesas Electronics America Inc., and Thailand-based STARS Microelectronic.
v.In September 2024, Gurugram (Haryana)-based Kaynes Technology India Limited (KTIL) proposal for setting up of OSAT facility at Sanand, Gujarat for Wire bond Interconnect, Substrate Based Packages with an investment of Rs 3,307 crore was approved.
- The technology will be facilitated by ISO Technology Sdn. Bhd. And Aptos Technology Inc.
- The cumulative investment value of these above 5 landmark projects in the semiconductor sector is near to Rs 1.52 lakh crores.
Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS):
i.In April 2024, GoI formally launched this scheme which helps to alleviate the challenges of local manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductor in order to bolster the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India.
ii.The scheme will offer financial incentive of 25% on capital expenditure for the identified list of electronic goods that include downstream value chain of electronic products: electronic components, semiconductor/display fabrication units, ATMP units, specialized sub-assemblies, among others.
iii.The scheme is being implemented through a nodal agency which will act as Project Management Agency (PMA) and is mainly responsible for facilitating secretarial, managerial and implementation support and carrying out other responsibilities as assigned by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
