Smartphone Component

Any reduction in the customs duty on smartphone parts in the forthcoming budget will harm India's developing component ecosystem, discourage investment, increase imports, and make local firms uncompetitive, potentially resulting in job losses, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. India's smartphone industry is a 'Make in India' success story, with 2023-24 production reaching USD 49.2 billion and exports at USD 15.6 billion, making smartphones the fourth-largest export after diesel, aviation fuel, and polished diamonds. However, a few industry groups are pushing for further import tariff cuts on smartphone components in the Union Budget for FY26. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) warns that this could harm India's growing local manufacturing ecosystem and long-term ambitions in electronics. "Instead of cutting tariffs, GTRI recommends setting up component hubs near ports to reduce import delays and warehousing costs. This approach, used by countries like Vietnam and China, wou

Tamil Nadu is likely to make up for a large part of these jobs, alongside Delhi-National Capital Region, and Karnataka

Festive season this year is likely to see fewer launches by smartphone companies and prices of existing devices could rise by 7-10 per cent as players are grappling with severe shortage of components

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Although its manufacturing partner in India currently is Foxconn, the firm is eyeing new partners to help it set up the local sourcing eco-system

A 10% customs tax was also imposed on the imports of camera modules for phones and connectors