Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, 28 May 2026 highlighted a significant milestone in India's electronics manufacturing journey, announcing that cover glass used in mobile phone displays is now being produced domestically — citing it as a concrete realisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India vision. The post tagged Corning, the US-based specialty glass manufacturer widely known for its Gorilla Glass technology used in smartphone screens worldwide.

Context

Cover glass — the thin, hardened glass layer protecting smartphone touchscreens — has historically been imported, making it one of the last major components in the mobile phone supply chain that India had not manufactured at scale. Vaishnaw's post marks the crossing of that threshold, positioning the development as a direct outcome of sustained industrial policy under the Make in India programme. The tagging of Corning points to the US firm's involvement in establishing or partnering for domestic production capacity.

Corning is the dominant global supplier of specialty cover glass for consumer electronics, supplying major smartphone brands across the world. The company had previously signalled interest in deepening its India footprint in line with the country's growing role as a mobile phone assembly hub.

Policy Backdrop

The Make in India initiative was launched in September 2014 with the goal of raising manufacturing's share of GDP and attracting foreign direct investment into industrial production. Mobile phones became one of its most visible success stories, with India emerging as the world's second-largest mobile phone producer through a combination of policy incentives and global supply-chain realignment.

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile phones and electronics, announced in 2020, accelerated local assembly and pushed manufacturers to progressively deepen component sourcing within India. Display components and cover glass have been identified as priority targets for the next phase of electronics localisation, reducing dependence on imports — particularly from China — and generating higher-value domestic employment.

Vaishnaw, who holds the Electronics and Information Technology portfolio alongside Railways and Information and Broadcasting, has been a central figure in driving the component-manufacturing agenda, including ongoing work on semiconductor fabrication and display ecosystems.

Stakeholders and Impact

Domestic mobile phone manufacturers, global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) assembling handsets in India, and downstream electronics exporters stand to benefit directly from a reliable local supply of cover glass. Reduced import costs could improve margins for manufacturers and support India's ambition to move up the electronics value chain from assembly to components.

For Corning, establishing or expanding production in India aligns with the broader 'China-plus-one' supply-chain strategy being pursued by global technology companies. India's large and growing smartphone market also provides a substantial captive customer base for locally produced display glass.

What's Next

Analysts and industry observers will watch for formal announcements detailing the scale, location, and investment figures associated with the cover-glass manufacturing facility. Further extensions of the PLI scheme to cover display modules and semiconductors are expected to be the next frontier, as India seeks to build a fully integrated electronics manufacturing ecosystem. Any additional FDI disclosures or Corning capacity announcements will be closely tracked as indicators of the programme's depth and durability.