Saturday, December 27, 2014: Under PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the new government is aggressively pushing upon the manufacturing of electronics in the country and thus bringing down the quantum of imports to India. But a recent report suggests that the mobile phones export is expected to crash to almost zero in 2015.
The reports submitted by the industry body Indian Cellular Association with the government suggests that the mobile market has grown by 32 per cent or to $12 billion in 2014 but the imports to the country have taken over almost three quarters of the market.
Notably the exports of mobile phone had touched the peak of Rs 1,20,000 million in 2012. Then in 2013, the exports had crashed to Rs 1,18,500 million to further Rs 24,500 million, in 2014. Which is expected to go down to nil by next year in absence of proper measures.
One of the factor mentioned within the report was shut down of Nokia’s mobile phone plant in Tamil Nadu, because of certain tax disputes with the government, which had thereby resulted in decline of exports to the country. The mobile market of India has always been dominated by the imports, thus leading to the trade deficit. In 2013-14, the deficit faced by the government was over Rs 490,410 million in telecom sector.