NEW DELHI: Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday pushed back against a Bloomberg analysis questioning the economics of India's electronics manufacturing push -- highlighting the tax revenues and jobs generated under the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile phones.
In a post on social media platform X, Vaishnaw said the mobile PLI programme has delivered substantial returns to the government and the economy.
According to the minister, the government has paid incentives worth Rs 19,000 crore under the scheme, while direct tax collections from the sector have reached Rs 25,000 crore and GST collections have touched Rs 3 lakh crore.
The minister also underscored the employment generated by the electronics sector, stating that electronics manufacturing currently supports about 25 lakh jobs, with mobile phone manufacturing alone accounting for nearly 12 lakh jobs.
"Mobile PLI stats as follows:
Government incentive paid: Rs 19,000 Cr.
Direct tax collected: Rs 25,000 Cr.
GST collected: Rs 3,00,000 Cr.
Electronics manufacturing employs 25 Lakh people; mobile manufacturing alone employs 12 Lakh.
Cope harder!!" the minister noted.
Vaishnaw's remarks came in response to a Bloomberg analysis that questioned whether India's effort to replicate China's electronics manufacturing success could deliver the desired economic benefits.
The report noted that while India has emerged as a major manufacturing hub for smartphones, including iPhones, the country continues to rely heavily on imported components such as processors, memory chips, batteries and camera lenses.
The analysis highlighted that nearly one in every four iPhones is now produced in India, but argued that the value addition within the country remains limited because many critical components are sourced from overseas suppliers.
Bloomberg also pointed to government subsidies provided under the PLI scheme, arguing that India may be spending heavily to attract manufacturers and offset higher production costs.