The government had decided to advance the phased manufacturing programme (PMP) for FY20 by two months, saying it would give ‘Make in India’ a boost.
Mobile phone makers Oppo and Vivo are likely to follow their South Korean rival Samsung in making key components locally in the next one year, sources told Business Standard. The move comes as the Centre deferred the imposition of duties on crucial parts.
According to recent reports, Samsung will begin making components from April 2020, once the duty kicks in. Production will start at its Noida facility, which is also its largest mobile phone manufacturing plant in the world.
Developing local ecosystem
The English Daily reported that firms like Samsung, had been pushing for the import duty deferment, saying it would hamper investment in a local ecosystem they were building. Oppo and Vivo, too, have manufacturing units in Noida.
To put things in perspective, the government had decided to advance the phased manufacturing programme (PMP) for FY20 by two months, saying it would give ‘Make in India’ a boost. PMP envisages converting India into an electronics manufacturing hub by making imports dearer.
Since 2017, the government has increased custom duty on mobile components, encouraging firms to manufacture these products locally. While the government claimed that the PMP schedule for FY20 was being advanced to coincide with the interim budget, mobile phone makers had argued that they were unprepared to manufacture these components quickly, since they were expecting the levies to kick in from April 1, 2020.
