Export of mobile phones jumps 127 times in a decade: Govt

New Delhi: India has witnessed a phenomenal surge in mobile phone exports, which have risen 127 times in the last decade from just Rs 0.01 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2 lakh crore in 2024-25, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Officials credited this remarkable growth to the reforms and policy measures introduced under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision, which transformed India into a global hub for electronics manufacturing.

The production of mobile phones has jumped from Rs 0.18 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 5.5 lakh crore in 2024-25 — marking a 28-fold increase, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

During the same period, the number of mobile manufacturing units expanded from just two in 2014 to over 300 in 2025, a rise of 150 times.

As a result, India, once dependent on imports to meet nearly three-fourths of its mobile phone demand, now imports a negligible 0.02 per cent of the total units sold.

Overall electronics production has also grown six times in the last decade, from Rs 1.9 lakh crore to Rs 11.3 lakh crore, while exports of electronic goods have surged eight times to Rs 3.3 lakh crore in 2024-25.

The government attributed this turnaround to flagship schemes like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for large-scale electronics and IT hardware, the Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC and EMC 2.0), the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017.

These initiatives have generated an estimated 25 lakh direct and indirect jobs in the electronics sector across India.

Maharashtra alone hosts 85 supported manufacturing units, two common facility centres and one electronics manufacturing cluster under the Ministry’s schemes.

The government also highlighted the role of Digital India and Skill India programmes in equipping youth with digital skills.

In Maharashtra, over 53 lakh people have been trained under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), including nearly 6 lakh from Scheduled Tribes, while initiatives like FutureSkills PRIME and drone technology training programmes have further expanded employability opportunities.

IANS