Traders offering prayers to electronic gadgets
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, November 14: Former NITI Aayog chief executive officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant on Tuesday said that “almost 100 per cent of mobiles sold in Indian market were ‘Made in India’ in 2023”. He said that the figure for the same in 2022 was 98 per cent.
Kant’s remarks have come close on the heels of the traders’ body, CAIT, claiming that China took a hit of not less than Rs 1 lakh crore this Diwali as the people largely endorsed the ‘Vocal for Local’ call. The CAIT in a statement has claimed that the local traders made a business close to s 3.75 lakh crore as markets reported heavy footfall while the online stores also gave thumbs up to ‘Made in India’ label.
“In 2014, almost 81 per cent of India’s mobile handset demand was met from Chinese imports. India is today the 2nd largest mobile phone manufacturing country. During 2014-2022, India crossed 2 billion mobile handset production,” Kant added in a post on X.
The former CEO of the NITI Aayog also said that “India will produce over 270 million mobile handsets in 2023”. “Almost 20 per cent of the mobile handsets produced in India are exported. Local manufacturing for mobiles has grown at 23 per cent compounded annual rate between 2014-2022,” added Kant.
However, Kant didn’t mention in his post that several of the Chinese mobile phone manufacturers are operating out of India and they have pocketed large market share in the country. Besides, mobile phones, the Chinese car maker MG is witnessing fastest growth among all the auto firms in India. Also, the traders in the markets claim that while ‘Made in India’ labels are liberally used, the manufacturers are sourcing parts from China in a big way.
The Mint recently reported that there had been a marginal dip in imports from China in the first six months. “The two-way trade between India and China also dropped by 3.56 per cent to $ 58.11 billion. Exports to China reduced marginally to $ 7.74 billion during the first half of the current fiscal from $7.84 billion in the year-ago period. Imports from China reduced to $ 50.47 billion from $52.42 billion a year earlier,” the Mint reported quoting the official figures for the first six months of the current fiscal.
In the wake of the violent Galwan clash, India is emphasising on ‘Vocal for Local’, with several organisations amplifying campaign to boycott the Chinese goods. This Diwali shopkeepers were heard arguing that local manufacturers have come up with better quality decorative lighting goods to cash in on to anti-China feelings among the people.
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