Manufacturing a cheap smartphone comes at a price

Manufacturers admit making them is not feasible and can only be undertaken with central subsidy

Waiting for a smartphone with standard features, packed with all basic applications (apps) and costs less than Rs 2,000? You may have to wait a bit longer than you probably had expected, because manufacturing standard smartphones priced below Rs 2,000 is not yet feasible in India.

As the Union government is betting big on cashless transactions to put a break on growing black money, it is trying to rope in mobile handset makers to come up with smartphones that cost less than Rs 2,000, thereby enabling more consumers to make online payments.

In a meeting recently held by the NITI