Driven by rising mobile phone exports from India, especially from Apple, electronics exports moved up one position to become India’s fifth largest export at $29.1 billion, displacing drugs and pharmaceuticals at $27. 8 billion dollars.
What’s more, electronics exports edged closer to the fourth-largest exporter — organic and inorganic chemicals — which fell 3 percent to $29.4 billion in FY24. According to the Commerce Department, electronics exports grew by 24 percent, representing an increase of more than $23.6 billion in FY23. It is also the fastest growing export category among the top 10. According to the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association, mobile phone exports, which compared to last year it increased by almost 38 percent to 15.5 billion dollars, it participated in the total export of electronics by 53 percent.
By comparison, in the last financial year, mobile phone exports were $11.1 billion, accounting for 47 percent of total electronics exports. The single biggest factor driving this increase was Apple’s iPhone exports, which doubled from $5 billion in FY23 to over $10 billion in FY24.This came at a time when India’s total merchandise exports it fell by around 3 percent in FY24 compared to the previous financial year. Of the $5.5 billion increase in electronics exports this year, 90 percent came from the $5 billion increase in iPhone exports. Apple’s iPhone exports alone now account for 35 percent of India’s entire electronics export basket.
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An incentive program linked to smartphone manufacturing pushed electronics exports from the seventh largest export between FY19 and FY23 to number six last year, to fifth in FY24. Electronics has also substantially reduced its lead over India’s third and fourth largest exports. In FY23, electronics exports trailed gems and jewelry exports by $14.4 billion. This year, the gap has narrowed to $2.8 billion. In the case of the fourth export of organic and inorganic chemicals, electronics narrowed the gap from $6.7 billion in FY23 to just $300 million in one year.
Mobile companies say that on current trends (and unless gems and jewelery and organic and inorganic chemicals do exceptionally well), electronics exports could become India’s third largest export by 2026.
