Smartphones Entirely Built In India To Be In Markets By 2028: Sources

India is working on a smartphone that will be manufactured entirely within the country, with the government aiming to have the device ready for the market by the end of 2028. Government sources told NDTV that two or three Indian companies are currently working on the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 

The ambition is to ensure that every component, from the phone's hardware to its design and manufacturing, is produced in India, with no imported components.

India has become the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer, but much of the industry's production remains dependent on imported components. Smartphones made in India have largely involved assembling devices designed or manufactured elsewhere.

Apple, for example, has significantly expanded iPhone assembly in India since the Covid-19 pandemic, while Samsung also has large-scale manufacturing operations in the country. But neither represents a completely indigenous smartphone because key components and technologies are still sourced from abroad.

The government has been trying to change that by developing the country's domestic electronics supply chain.

According to government sources, India initially focused on manufacturing smartphone components that had traditionally been imported, particularly from China. The country has now reached a stage where it exports about Rs 35,000 crore worth of such components to China, the sources said.

The next objective is to manufacture all the components required for a smartphone domestically.

The government has also focused on developing India's mobile phone assembly capabilities. The third part of the strategy is design, with efforts now underway to develop a smartphone whose design is also entirely Indian.

A senior government official told NDTV that the proposed phone would not be positioned as a direct competitor to Apple's high-end iPhones. It is expected to be three or four levels below an iPhone in terms of features and would be priced to make it accessible to ordinary consumers.

The phone is expected to run Google's Android operating system, which remains the dominant smartphone platform in India.

Its name has not yet been finalised, although a name associated with India is being considered. The project also carries a political dimension. The planned launch towards the end of 2028 would come months before the next general election, scheduled for 2029.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly questioned the government's record on manufacturing during public meetings, while former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan has argued that India continues to lag behind its potential in manufacturing.

If the project reaches the market as planned, the government could present the phone as evidence that India has moved beyond assembling smartphones to manufacturing the components, technology and design that go into them.