India shipped out smartphones worth a massive $24.14 billion (roughly ₹2 lakh crore) in fiscal year 2025 (April 2024 to March 2025), according to recently released government data. That’s a 55% jump from the $15.57 billion seen in the previous fiscal—and more than enough to outpace long-time export giants like petroleum products and diamonds.
The United States stood out as the biggest market, importing $10.6 billion worth of smartphones from India in FY25. That’s nearly double the $5.57 billion worth it bought in FY24.
Other major buyers included the Netherlands ($2.2 billion), Italy ($1.26 billion), and the Czech Republic ($1.17 billion). Japan also ramped up its imports significantly, going from $120 million in FY23 to $520 million in FY25.
A senior official from the Ministry of Commerce was quoted as saying that smartphones have now “overtaken traditional leaders like petroleum products and diamonds for the first time.” If this trend holds, it could signal a real shift in India’s export basket.
For context, petroleum products and cut diamonds have long been among India’s top-performing exports. But in FY25, smartphones quietly pulled ahead—thanks largely to a mix of policy pushes, global realignments, and supply chain shifts.
The past two years have seen a sharp increase in smartphone production within India. Much of this is tied to the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which aims to attract global manufacturers and boost local output. These incentives appear to have helped bring large-scale investments into India’s electronics manufacturing sector.
Apple, for instance, has been gradually shifting more of its iPhone production from China to India. Even with a reported 5% to 8% hike in manufacturing costs here, the move seems to be part of a wider strategy to diversify production bases amid rising global uncertainties.
While Apple is the biggest name in the mix, the export surge doesn’t seem to be limited to one brand. Other global and domestic players have expanded their production in India too. There’s been a noticeable uptick in the establishment of manufacturing units, especially in states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
This might be the beginning of a longer-term trend—but it’s too early to say for sure. For now, the numbers suggest that India is increasingly being seen as a reliable smartphone manufacturing base.
