Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said that smartphones have become India’s largest exported product, marking a major milestone in the country’s rapidly expanding electronics manufacturing sector.
Speaking at the Google Cloud India AI Hub Groundbreaking Ceremony, Vaishnaw noted that mobile phones have overtaken traditional export leaders such as gems and jewellery and textiles. He added that in the past year, smartphones also surpassed petroleum products like high-speed diesel to become the single biggest exported commodity.
The minister highlighted that the broader electronics segment is also gaining strength, with electronics now ranking as India’s third-largest export category.
Reflecting on the sector’s transformation, Vaishnaw said India once had negligible electronics manufacturing and virtually no exports. He explained that the country has since scaled up across the value chain—from assembling finished products to manufacturing modules, sub-modules, and now components.
He also pointed to significant capacity expansion, stating that 71 factories have either been set up or are currently in progress. According to him, India is moving toward meeting 50% of its domestic electronics demand, with some segments already achieving full self-sufficiency.
The remarks underscore India’s growing prominence as a global electronics manufacturing hub, driven by policy support and increasing investments in the sector.
