Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, highlighted India's transformation in electronics manufacturing, citing a 6X growth in the sector and claiming that 99 per cent of all mobile phones sold in India are now domestically produced — a milestone he framed as part of the country's broader Make in India revolution.

Context

The minister's post, numbered as point 8 in what appears to be a series of achievements, describes India's journey 'from an importer to a global manufacturing powerhouse' in the electronics segment. The post was accompanied by a video, underscoring the scale of the sector's transformation under current policy direction.

The Make in India programme was launched in September 2014 with the explicit goal of reducing import dependence and positioning India as a global manufacturing destination. Electronics — and mobile phones in particular — emerged as one of the programme's most visible success stories.

Policy Backdrop

The growth cited by Vaishnaw is closely linked to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile manufacturing, notified in 2020, which offered financial incentives to large-scale electronics producers who met domestic production targets. The scheme attracted major global handset manufacturers to set up or expand assembly operations in India.

India's policy toolkit also included progressive tariff adjustments on imported finished handsets, making domestic production economically attractive for both Indian and multinational firms. This combination of incentives and protective tariffs accelerated the relocation of assembly lines from East Asia to Indian facilities, aligning with the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat self-reliance agenda.

The broader electronics manufacturing push sits within a wider industrial strategy that includes the India Semiconductor Mission, which aims to establish domestic chip fabrication capacity — a critical upstream input for the mobile and consumer electronics industry.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of this policy shift include domestic electronics manufacturers, global handset brands with Indian assembly operations, and component suppliers who have built supply chains around the growing local production base. For consumers, the domestic manufacturing push has been accompanied by a wider range of price points and faster availability of new models.

Workers in manufacturing hubs across states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka have been direct beneficiaries of the employment generated by expanded factory floors. The government has consistently cited job creation as a core outcome of the PLI-driven manufacturing expansion.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the release of the next quarterly electronics export figures and PLI disbursement data, which will provide an independent measure of the sector's momentum. Progress on semiconductor fabrication unit approvals under the India Semiconductor Mission is also being closely watched, as domestic chip production would mark the next frontier in reducing India's electronics import bill.

With Vaishnaw framing this as one point in a numbered series of achievements, further posts in the series are expected to cover other sectors and policy milestones, suggesting a coordinated communication push ahead of a significant political or policy milestone.