India becomes world's second largest mobile phone manufacturer: ICA
Only behind China, India has replaced Vietnam to become the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in 2017, Indian Cellular Association President Pankaj Mohindroo informed Union ministers Manoj Sinha and Ravi Shankar Prasad. Paced by 'Make in India' push, the government is said to be mulling an additional 10% import duty on components, aiming to further boost local manufacturing of smartphones. Here's more.
India displaces Vietnam, emerges as second largest producer of mobiles
Indian Cellular Association, citing data available from market research firm IHS, China's National Bureau of Statistics and Vietnam General Statistics Office, said that the annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017. This 267% increase, driven by Make in India initiative, has allowed India to dethrone Vietnam from the coveted spot .
Mobile phone imports reduced as domestic production increases
With the increase in mobile phone production, imports of devices in India has also reduced to less than half during 2017-18. ICA president Pankaj Mahindroo said, "Our completely built units as percentage of domestic market has now come down from 78 per cent (2014-15) to 18 per cent (2017-18)". Further plans to levy additional import duty on components will bolster domestic smartphone production.
Mobile phone production to create job opportunities in India
The Fast Track Task Force, a body under the ministry of electronics and IT, has set a target to produce around 500 million mobile phone units in India by 2019, a whopping 4,445% increase from 2017. As a result of positive growth in mobile phone production, the FTTF aims to create $8 billion component manufacturing and in due course, create 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs by 2019.
