Make in India at 12: Electronics up 7x, defence output hits ₹1.78 lakh crore
Synopsis
Make in India turns 12 with numbers that are hard to ignore: electronics output up nearly sevenfold, mobile manufacturing up 33-fold, and indigenous defence production at a record ₹1.78 lakh crore. PM Modi's anniversary push signals the initiative is shifting from a manufacturing slogan to a multi-sector industrial identity — but the employment story remains conspicuously absent from the celebration.
Key Takeaways
Make in India completed 12 years on 25 September 2026 , now covering 27 sectors — 15 manufacturing, 12 services.
Electronics production grew nearly sevenfold , from ₹1.9 lakh crore (2014-15) to ₹13.11 lakh crore (2025-26).
Mobile phone manufacturing surged ~33-fold to ₹6.27 lakh crore ; India is now the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer by volume .
Indigenous defence production hit a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025-26 , up from ₹46,429 crore in 2014-15.
India's pharma industry ranks 3rd globally by volume ; annual turnover reached ₹4,71,898 crore in 2024-25.
Vehicle production stood at 31.03 million units in 2024-25, 33% above the 2014-15 level.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, 25 September 2026, marked the 12th anniversary of the Make in India initiative by highlighting sweeping gains in manufacturing output, exports, and investment across key sectors. The initiative, launched on 25 September 2014, now covers 27 sectors — 15 in manufacturing and 12 in services — with the government claiming a broad-based industrial transformation over the past decade.
Key Milestones Across Sectors
Electronics production has surged nearly sevenfold, climbing from ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26, according to government data. Within that, mobile-phone manufacturing rose approximately 33-fold — from ₹18,000 crore to ₹6.27 lakh crore — over the same period, helping India become the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer by volume.
Indigenous defence production reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, up from ₹46,429 crore in 2014-15. Vehicle production stood at 31.03 million units in 2024-25, 33 per cent higher than the 2014-15 figure, according to a government factsheet.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices
India's pharmaceutical industry now ranks third globally by volume and 11th by value. Annual turnover reached ₹4,71,898 crore in 2024-25, growing at a 9.5 per cent CAGR since 2020-21. Domestic manufacturing of medical devices grew 48.2 per cent, from ₹28,000 crore in 2019-20 to ₹41,500 crore in 2024-25.
What PM Modi Said
In a post on X, Modi wrote: 'More made in India. More investment in India. More exports from India. A transformation visible across sectors!' Earlier in the day, while interacting with participants of the Seva Yatra — travelling from Varanasi to Vadnagar under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan — Modi called on Indians to strive for self-reliance. 'We have to make a self-reliant India. Challenges will come. But we carry the values and mindset to challenge those challenges directly,' he said.
Context and What Comes Next
Make in India was conceived as India's bid to become a global hub for manufacturing, design, and innovation. Notably, the initiative's expansion into services sectors reflects a shift in focus beyond factory floors toward software, design, and engineering exports. This comes amid a global push to diversify supply chains away from China, a trend that has brought fresh foreign investment into Indian electronics and defence manufacturing. Critics, however, have argued that translating headline output numbers into verifiable employment gains remains an unfinished agenda. The government has not published a consolidated jobs-added figure for the initiative's 12-year run. How that gap is addressed will be a key test of Make in India's next chapter.
Point of View
Not an employment story, and that gap matters. India's manufacturing share of GDP has barely moved in a decade despite these sectoral leaps, suggesting that volume gains have not yet translated into the structural shift the initiative originally promised. The real measure of Make in India's next 12 years will be whether it can connect record defence and electronics output to formal job creation at scale — something the government has yet to quantify in any credible, audited way.
NationPress
25 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Make in India and how old is it?
Make in India is a flagship government initiative launched on 25 September 2014 to transform India into a global hub for manufacturing, design, and innovation. It turned 12 years old on 25 September 2026 and now covers 27 sectors, including 15 in manufacturing and 12 in services.
How much has electronics production grown under Make in India?
Electronics production has grown nearly sevenfold, from ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26, according to government data. Mobile phone manufacturing alone rose approximately 33-fold, from ₹18,000 crore to ₹6.27 lakh crore over the same period.
What is India's current rank in global mobile phone manufacturing?
India is the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer by volume, driven by the sharp rise in domestic production over the past decade.
How has India's defence production changed since 2014?
Indigenous defence production reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, up from ₹46,429 crore in 2014-15 — a near fourfold increase. The growth reflects a sustained push for domestic defence manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat framework.
Where does India stand in the global pharmaceutical industry?
India's pharmaceutical industry ranks third globally by volume and 11th by value, with annual turnover reaching ₹4,71,898 crore in 2024-25 and a 9.5 per cent CAGR since 2020-21.
