Overview
- Officials are preparing a follow-on to the expiring smartphone PLI programme that shifts benefits from sheer output to export performance and staged localisation, according to multiple reports.
- The policy remains under inter-ministerial consultation with design, incentive levels and the overall budget still being finalised, and no formal announcement yet.
- The scheme is expected to cover new investments from April 2026 and would likely use tiered subsidies that increase when components such as camera modules and display assemblies are sourced in India.
- Apple and Samsung are seen as key beneficiaries as Apple-linked contract manufacturers account for roughly three-fourths of India’s smartphone exports and Apple targets most U.S.-bound iPhones from India by the end of 2026.
- India produced nearly $60 billion worth of mobiles in FY2024–25 with exports of about $21.7 billion, but officials note constraints such as a thin supplier base and reliance on imported high-value components even as local firms pursue new module capacity.