Better environment in India for the import of mobile phone components

26. February 2020

Between 2016 and 2019, the number of imported smartphones fell by 83 percent from 70.9 to 12.2 million. In the same period, the number of devices sold and registered rose from 252 to around 500 million. These figures speak for solid growth in the local industry. According to the Indian Association for Mobile Communications and Electronic Equipment (ICEA), mobile communications devices, components or individual parts are produced in around 260 production facilities nationwide. Major brands, both from India and abroad, have either set up their own production facilities, are planning to do so, or are commissioning Indian-based subcontractors with production.

In order to support the industry’s development and growth, the Indian government has introduced the following incentives: reduced taxes and subsidies for manufacturers of mobile phones, components and parts, permission for foreign companies or investors to participate fully in companies for the manufacturing of the aforementioned products, and a 0% basic duty on capital goods for the manufacturing of mobile phones. As a result of this support, domestic production of mobile phones increased from 60 to 290 million units in the period 2014 to 2019. A shift from the use of prefabricated components to individual parts was observed in production, which enabled the country to gradually increase its domestic added value.

In a national plan for the electronics industry, the Indian government has set out to develop the country into a hub for the mobile communications industry by 2025. Among other things, the goal includes increasing the production of mobile phones to 1 billion units annually in 2025, of which 600 million are earmarked for export. A further support programme for the settlement of companies is planning the establishment of 20 production clusters distributed over 15 Indian states. In order to facilitate the relocation of production facilities, the import of used plant and machinery with a remaining operational life span of at least 5 years has been considerably simplified. However, WPC Certification or TEC certification is still mandatory for the import of wireless devices and many telecommunications products to India. We would be pleased to advise you if and which India certification is required for your products and accompany you during the whole process of registration and certification.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for further details and consultation. You can contact us via e-mail, or call us (UK: +44 2071931135, Rest of Europe: +49 69 2713769261, US: +1 773 654-2673).