Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw set Oct. 23, 2028, as the date India would have phones designed, made and branded in the country, putting a deadline on the domestic-brand push.
At the NDTV World Summit on Oct. 23, Vaishnaw said, “You will have Indian-designed, Indian-manufactured, Indian-branded mobile phones.” He did not name a company, handset, price or launch plan.
Separately, the Union Cabinet approved the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme on July 15, with an outlay of ₹62,500 crore for fiscal 2026–27 through 2030–31. Eligible sales by Indian brands receive a 5% incentive, with another 3% for Indian design and research and development. A sourcing incentive of up to 1.5% applies to key components and subassemblies only if qualifying items cover at least 25% of total phone units manufactured during a fiscal year.
For the scheme’s Indian-brand segment, a qualifying brand must have its IP and trademarks held in India, management controlled by Indian citizens, more than 51% of its shares held by Indian citizens, and in-house design and R&D capabilities in India.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reported phone production of about ₹6.27 trillion and exports of ₹2.59 trillion in fiscal 2025–26. It said 99.2% of mobile phones used in India were made domestically and that the country ranked second worldwide in phone manufacturing by volume. An evaluation of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (PLI-LSEM), which ended March 31, 2026, put domestic value addition at 23% in fiscal 2023–24.
Vaishnaw had given earlier timelines in 2026. In an Aug. 21 release, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) attributed to him a forecast for a strong Indian mobile brand by mid-2027. In a Jan. 22 interview with ET NOW, he said the country might have its own brand within one year to 18 months. It is unclear whether the earlier brand forecasts refer to the same milestone as Vaishnaw’s Oct. 23, 2028, target for Indian-designed, Indian-manufactured and Indian-branded phones.
