India’s phone exports more than doubled in FY19-20

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday revealed that India’s phone exports more than doubled from 1.7 crore units in FY18-19 to 3.6 crore units in FY19-20. Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst, TechArc, “We have attracted interest from companies such global giant Samsung and Chinese OEMs in the mobile phone segment coupled with the right set of incentives for them.”

In value terms, the on-year growth in exports last fiscal year ended March 31 was 91% with India exporting devices worth Rs 21,000 crore. The country’s exports have surged from 20 lakh units in FY16-17; while imports in the category last FY plunged 81% to 20 lakh from 2.6 crore in the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, India’s phone imports have fallen from 7.5 crore units in FY16-17. The industry has largely benefited from the ‘Make in India’ initiative by the government leading to an increase in local production. Sops for local manufacturing has enticed the likes of Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Realme and Samsung to either up up or expand local manufacturing in India, and also export from the world’s second largest smartphone market. The Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) has been particularly useful in this.