As India’s current phone manufacturing incentive program is about to end, the country is planning new incentives to boost production. Here are the details.

India Focuses on Recent Production Increase

Although Apple has diversified its production away from China over the years, these efforts intensified last year when President Trump initiated the global tariff war.

As a result, India has become one of Apple’s new manufacturing hubs, and according to a report released this week, the company has reached the threshold of assembling about a quarter of its iPhones there.

Part of this successful shift was made possible by India’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Program, which offers financial incentives to companies that manufacture smartphones locally.

Now, as reported by Reuters, India is planning new incentives that will come into effect after the current PLI program ends this month.

As part of the new plan, it is reported that the Indian government is considering tying the incentives to export performance. This could be an effective way to encourage companies to use the country not just for local sales but as a global manufacturing hub.

This timing is notable: Apple is reportedly aiming to shift about half of its iPhone production to India within a year. However, a U.S. court ruling that invalidated Trump’s tariffs on fentanyl related to China could weaken India’s position.

Still, according to Reuters, India produced nearly $60 billion worth of mobile phones in the 2024-25 fiscal year, which means a 28-fold increase over the decade, adding that the country aims to increase its electronic production to $500 billion by the 2030 fiscal year within the framework of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda to boost local manufacturing.

The report also states that the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been consulting with the industry on the design of the program, but declined to comment when contacted.

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