India’s Telecom Manufacturing Claims Falter with Reality Check
Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at 4G Launch (Image X.com)
Despite significant investments and the government’s PLI scheme, weak domestic and global demand has impacted productions.
By SANJAY SINGH
NEW DELHI, September 29, 2025 — Even as India enters coveted club of nations manufacturing telecom equipment as stated by Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, India is still struggling on the ground to bring this to reality.
As Scindia said India’s image has transformed from being a services and consumer nation to a hub of production, innovation, entrepreneurship and exports, India’s ambition to become a global smartphone manufacturing leader faces hurdles as nearly half of its production capacity remains underutilized.
Despite significant investments and the government’s PLI scheme, weak domestic and global demand has impacted productions. Industry leaders like Foxconn and Tata Electronics continue to expand, while smaller manufacturers struggle.
Experts predict recovery as global demand for smartphones and advanced technologies may rise by 2025. According to a report by Counterpoint Research, India’s mobile phone production capacity surpassed 500 million units by the end of 2024.
However, actual production remains far below this level at around 250 million units annually, with 200 million units serving the domestic market and the rest, predominantly iPhones, being exported.
The Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA) estimates the capacity to be between 400-420 million units, highlighting discrepancies in the data but reinforcing the significant underutilization of capacity.
Strangely, the Federation of All India Distributors Associations (FAIDA), representing over five lakh distributors serving three crore retailers nationwide, has reportedly sounded the alarm over what it calls serious risks to the survival of India’s century-old distribution system.
In a letter to telecom and mobile companies on September 27, FAIDA, according to a CNBCTV-18 report, highlighted structural issues and business practices that it says are steadily weakening distributors’ position in the consumer ecosystem.
Scindia said with the launch of BSNL’s indigenous 4G stack on Saturday India has become the fifth country in the world to manufacture a telecom equipment. But as a matter of concern, this is something which government’s owned BSNL has to think over it, according to industry experts as private telecom companies already has the 4G ecosystem pan India since 2015 and 5G since 2022.
BSNL plans to complete 4G rollout across the State by March 2026. However, with this launch, remote villages, border areas, islands, hilly terrains and places with low internet connectivity will have access to 4G network, according to Scindia.
(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)
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