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Driven by the iPhone, exports from Apple Inc vendors — who together run five factories in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — have spiked, placing the two states among the top five electronics-exporting states in the country and putting them well ahead of rivals that lack iPhone assembly lines.
Data from the commerce ministry shows iPhone exports pushed Tamil Nadu’s electronics exports up 783 per cent during the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme period for mobile devices, rising from $1.66 billion in 2020-21 (FY21) to $14.65 billion in 2024-25 (FY25) with one year of the scheme still to go. Apple has three plants in Tamil Nadu.
In Karnataka, where Apple operates one plant in Narsapura and another recently opened near Bengaluru, electronics exports rose from $2.26 billion in FY21 to $7.84 billion in FY25 — a growth of 247 per cent.
Apple vendors began exporting iPhones from these states in 2021-22 under the smartphone PLI scheme, now in its fifth and final year. In FY25, electronics exports from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka together touched $22.4 billion, with iPhone exports accounting for $17.5 billion, or 78 per cent.
After lifting India’s smartphone exports past $24 billion in FY25, the “Apple effect” on the country’s top five exporting states is stark.
Uttar Pradesh, once tipped as the preferred hub for smartphone production — and the leader in electronics exports at $2.84 billion in FY21 — saw exports climb only 85 per cent to $5.26 billion in FY25, losing ground to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Apple has several component suppliers in Uttar Pradesh but no iPhone factory, despite the state hosting production for Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Dixon, and Lava. Samsung, in fact, runs the world’s largest mobile production plant there. But the export data shows limited outward shipments from these facilities, except for Samsung and a portion of Dixon’s output.
The Apple effect is also visible in how electronics dominate overall state exports. Electronics now account for 28 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s $52 billion exports, 25 per cent of Karnataka’s $30.5 billion, and 24 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s $21.98 billion. Apple’s presence in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has not only redrawn the export map but also generated hundreds of thousands of jobs — most of them for women in skilled and semi-skilled roles.
Among other large exporting states, Maharashtra — with no iPhone assembly — grew electronics exports by 115 per cent in FY25 over FY21, while Gujarat, starting from a small base, reached $1.85 billion in FY25.
Experts say the southern states’ early bet on electronics manufacturing, and Apple in particular, was deliberate. With electronics now the world’s most traded commodity, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are positioning themselves much as China once did — ready to outstrip traditional Indian export leaders such as engineering goods and petroleum.
