December 27, 2025
New Delhi –
How policy-led manufacturing turned India into a global smartphone hub
India’s Make in India electronics initiative has yielded impressive results, with companies creating over 1.33 million jobs as the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme speeds up smartphone manufacturing and exports. Over the last five years, the program has converted India into a major global manufacturing hub, creating large-scale employment opportunities in factories, component suppliers, logistics, and support services. A sizable proportion of these positions have gone to women and first-time workers, highlighting the sector’s significance in inclusive and formal employment growth. In FY25, the mobile manufacturing ecosystem paid around ₹25,000 crore in wages, indicating significant growth on the ground.
Massive Job Creation Across the Sector
Over the last five years, the electronics industry has produced over 1.33 million jobs, an impressive feat for a high-technology, labor-intensive manufacturing sector. According to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), this employment growth includes both direct positions in manufacturing facilities and indirect jobs in ancillary industries such as logistics and services.
Importantly, women and first-time workers have accounted for a sizable portion of these opportunities—nearly 70% of new jobs were filled by women and those joining the workforce for the first time.
Impact and Inclusive Growth
Industry experts and officials credit this expansion to the PLI scheme’s performance-based incentives, which reward enterprises for increasing domestic production and exports. The program has boosted investment, created formal jobs, and aided in the establishment of world-class manufacturing facilities with associated infrastructure and training programs.
Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has emphasized the scheme’s significance in creating large-scale, skilled jobs and encouraging inclusivity, particularly among women and young people.
The impact of PLI is most visible in smartphone production, which has surged from about ₹2.2 lakh crore in FY21 to over ₹5.4 lakh crore in FY25. Global majors such as Apple and its contract manufacturers, along with Indian players, have rapidly scaled operations, integrating India into global supply chains. As a result, smartphone exports have risen nearly tenfold in five years, crossing ₹2 lakh crore, helping India move from an import-dependent market to one of the world’s fastest-growing mobile exporters. With rising domestic value addition and continued policy support, the electronics sector is now seen as a long-term growth engine capable of generating millions more jobs while strengthening India’s position in global manufacturing.
“From assembly lines to global markets, India’s electronics story is now built on scale, skill and speed.”
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