Massive Boost To Make In India: India Now World’s Second Largest Mobile Phone Maker

India has pipped Vietnam to become the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer, reports the Economic Times. The Indian Cellular Association (ICA) informed Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha and Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of this development through a letter.

"We are happy to inform you that with the strenuous and calibrated efforts of Government of India, ICA and FTTF, India has now emerged as the second largest producer of mobile handset by volume," ICA National President Pankaj Mohindroo wrote in the 28 March letter.

The data shared by ICA shows that the annual production of mobile phones in India rose from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017. Device imports also got reduced to less than half in 2017-18.

A target of 500 million mobile phone production in India by 2019 has been set by the Fast Track Task Force (FTTF), a body under Ministry of Electronics and IT. The value of such production is likely to be around $46 billion. Of these, the FTTF has also kept a target of exporting 120 million mobile phone units by the end of next year.