Govt panel clears proposal to export made in India phones worth $100 billion

The Centre has approved applications by mobile manufacturers around the globe to export mobile phones worth around $100 billion from India. According to a report by the Economic Times, applications by iPhone contract makers Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron as well as Samsung, Karbonn, Lava and Dixon have been cleared by an empowered group. 

“The empowered committee has approved all applications estimated to export around $100 billion (Rs 7.3 lakh crore) worth mobile phones under the production linked incentive scheme (PLI) and all the applications will be placed before the cabinet probably this week,” ET reported citing a senior government official.

Members of the empowered committee include the Niti Aayog CEO along with the secretaries of economic affairs, expenditure, revenue, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Five of the applicants are overseas ones, seven are Indian and another six are in the components manufacturing scheme, officials said.

Apple’s contract manufacturers — Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron —  and Samsung have submitted production estimates of phones worth $50 billion each in the next five years, according to the applications.

The government had launched the PLI scheme to boost the manufacturing of smartphones in India. Soon after the scheme was announced, several brands and suppliers showed interest by applying for the scheme and gaining benefits worth Rs 41,000 crore.

The PLI scheme aims to make India the manufacturing hub for smartphones. After the scheme was announced Apple started producing its latest models iPhone 11 and iPhone SE shortly after in India. The scheme also aims to attract manufacturers who are looking to move out of China amid the China-US trade tensions.