India on Track to Be Second-Largest Electronics Exporter, Says Economic Survey

Ahead of the Union Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday tabled the Economic Survey 2025–26 in Parliament, offering a detailed snapshot of India's economic performance and future outlook. Prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance and led by Chief Economic Advisor Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, the Survey is being closely tracked for its sector-wise insights and policy signals.

One of the key highlights of this year's Survey is the remarkable transformation of India's electronics sector, which has emerged as a major driver of exports and manufacturing growth.

According to the Survey, electronics has climbed from being the seventh-largest export category in financial year 2021-22 (FY22) to the third-largest and fastest-growing export sector in FY25. The momentum has continued into the first half of FY26, with electronics exports touching $22.2 billion, putting the sector on track to become India’s second-largest export segment.

The Survey attributes this rise to a sharp increase in domestic production and exports, particularly in mobile phone manufacturing. Production value in this segment has surged nearly 30 times, rising from ₹18,000 crore in FY15 to ₹5.45 lakh crore in FY25. India has also moved from being a net importer to becoming the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer, with more than 300 manufacturing units currently operating, compared to just two units in 2014.

The government, however, acknowledged that building a globally competitive electronics manufacturing ecosystem comes with challenges such as high capital costs, the need for economies of scale, long investment cycles, access to advanced technology, and skilled manpower. To address these gaps, several targeted policy measures have been rolled out to help Indian companies integrate better with global value chains (GVCs).

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing, launched in 2020, has resulted in cumulative production of about ₹9.34 lakh crore, exports of ₹5.12 lakh crore, and investments of ₹13,759 crore as of September 2025, the Survey said. Meanwhile, PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT Hardware, introduced in 2023, has generated production worth over ₹14,462 crore.

To strengthen component manufacturing, the government introduced the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) in April 2025 with an outlay of ₹22,919 crore, offering turnover-linked and capital expenditure incentives. Infrastructure support has also been expanded through Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC and EMC 2.0), which provide ready-to-use facilities for global and domestic firms.

The Survey also highlighted progress under the ₹76,000 crore semiconductor programme, with approvals for major projects such as Micron’s ATMP facility and Tata Electronics’ semiconductor fab, marking a crucial step toward high-tech self-reliance.