India is now a smartphone export powerhouse — a success story of PLI scheme

India has become a global hub for exporting smartphones, largely due to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. As Apple entered the smartphone production linked incentive program in FY22, Indian vendors exported a record high of iPhones worth $50 billion until December 2025.  

Surpassing traditional sectors and intensive revenue generating sectors like petroleum and diamonds, the export tally of smartphones skyrocketed with three months remaining in the five-year PLI scheme tenure for the company.  

“In the first nine months of FY26 alone, Apple has already exported nearly $16 billion, taking the cumulative iPhone exports past $50 billion within the PLI period,” said an official privy to the data.

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Samsung shipped $17 billion 

Other brands like Samsung shipped out nearly $17 billion worth of devices through the five-year period applicable from FY21 to 25. Samsung is considered as the rival of Apple and annually designs features which give a tough fight to the other and attract more consumers.  

Queries sent to Apple and Samsung regarding export numbers under the PLI scheme remained unanswered until the publication of this report.

The PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, notified on April 1, 2020, by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), offers financial incentives to boost domestic production of mobile phones and specified electronic components.

iPhone contributes to 75 per cent of smartphone shipments 

As of now, five iPhone factories, three operated by Tata and two by Foxconn, anchor a supply chain of nearly 45 companies, including a large number of MSMEs, producing components for Apple’s domestic and global supply chains.

iPhone exports contribute up to 75 per cent of the overall smartphone shipments.  

Officials told Economic Times a scheme would be devised in consultation with the industry to provide incentives that promote manufacturing.

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Government to continue support 

“We agree that there is still a disability with Indian manufacturers when compared with countries like China and Vietnam and we will continue to offer support to the industry,” said an official.

Some of the mobile phone exports were recorded before the PLI scheme, but the real thrust came with its inauguration and Apple bringing its biggest supply in India, which is the only country apart from China.  

Samsung was the only company out of the 10 beneficiaries to end the scheme in FY25 as it had managed to meet the production targets in FY21.  

Apple was setting up new factories and due to the pandemic and deteriorating Sino-Indian relations, the company, along with others like Dixon, failed to meet the targets in the first year, following which the government extended the scheme by one year.

Since the launch of iPhone 17 series, the production of Apple has expanded and reached greater heights which helped Apple to open more stores across the country.  

The Apple ecosystem has again come full throttle with five vendors of the company being selected under the second tranche of the scheme. Of the investments and employment generation, Apple vendors would be contributing more than 60 per cent.

The big vendors include Motherson, Tata Electronics and Foxconn, which will make enclosures for iPhones, while ATL will make Li-ion Cells and Hindalco will undertake aluminium extrusion.

Economic Times also reported that India has started to export electronic gadgets to China and Vietnam for the first time for manufacturing Apple products like MacBooks, AirPods, Watch, Pencil and iPhones, marking a role reversal of sorts.