Govt. collects ₹3.25 lakh cr. in taxes against ₹19,000 cr. mobile PLI: Vaishnaw

The government has collected a total of ₹3.25 lakh crore from the mobile phone industry in lieu of the ₹19,000 crore mobile production-linked incentive doled out to the segment, according to data shared by Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (October 28, 2026).

The stats shared by the Union Electronics and IT Minister on X showed that the government paid ₹19,000 crore in incentives under the scheme and in return collected ₹25,000 crore as direct tax and ₹3 lakh crore in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from the beneficiaries.

"Electronics manufacturing employs 25 Lakh people; mobile manufacturing alone employs 12 Lakh. Cope harder!!" Mr. Vaishnaw said.

The Minister's post came in response to a media opinion video claiming drawbacks of India's attempt to push electronics manufacturing through subsidies using public money compared to the ecosystem that exists in China.

According to the video, the import of components costs India more than it gains from exporting finished mobile phones that are made with subsidy support using taxpayers' money.

According to the official data shared by the government in March, India exported mobile phones worth ₹2 lakh crore in fiscal year 2025 and mobile phone imports in the country had become almost negligible at around 0.02% of the domestic demand in 2024-25 from 75% 10 years ago.

The production of electronic goods has increased six times to around ₹11.3 lakh crore in 2024-25 from about ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15, which includes a rise in mobile phone production to around ₹5.5 lakh crore from about ₹0.18 lakh crore during the same period.

The exports of electronic goods have increased eightfold to around ₹3.3 lakh crore in 2024-25 from ₹0.38 lakh crore 10 years ago.

The government has now rolled out the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) with a total incentive of ₹62,500 crore to boost local production of the devices. The scheme envisages developing Indian smartphones which will be designed and manufactured indigenously.

Mr. Vaishnaw has set an October 2028 timeline to meet the target for an Indian smartphone brand.