Duty cut may boost India's phone exports to $39 bn by 2027: ICEA

REITERATING THE DEMAND for reduction in tariffs and duties on components and subassemblies imported for making smartphones in India, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) on Wednesday said such a reduction in input tariffs could increase the country's smartphone exports by nearly four times to $39 billion (around Rs 3.2 trillion) by FY27, from $11 billion (Rs 90,000 crore) in FY23

- JATIN GROVER

Similarly, the tariff rationalisation could also increase the domestic production of mobile phones to $82 billion (Rs 6.8 trillion) by FY27 from $44 billion (Rs 3.5 trillion) in FY23, thereby creating 3 million jobs.

In the absence of any duty reduction on smartphone components such as printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), charger/adapter, cell, mic and receiver, speaker, etc, the growth in smartphone exports from the country would be limited to $27 billion by FY27. On the other hand, the domestic production would also be limited to $64 billion, and may limit job creation to 2.4 millions comparatively, according to an analysis by ICEA, which represents companies across the mobile and electronics industry.

The smartphone companies are batting for a reduction in duties and tariffs on components as the current higher duty structure increases cost of production, and makes India less competitive compared to economies like China and Vietnam.