Mobile PLI: ₹19,000 Cr Incentive, ₹3.25 Lakh Cr Taxes, Says Vaishnaw

Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a post on X that the government has paid ₹19,000 crore in incentives under the mobile phone production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and has collected about ₹3.25 lakh crore in taxes from the sector, PTI reported on Wednesday, 28 October. He listed ₹25,000 crore in direct tax and ₹3 lakh crore in GST, and said mobile manufacturing employs 12 lakh people, within 25 lakh in electronics overall. The post replied to a media opinion video arguing that India’s subsidy-led electronics push costs more than it earns. These are the minister’s figures; IPB has not seen the underlying data.

What the Minister Counted

The ₹25,000 crore and ₹3 lakh crore add up to the ₹3.25 lakh crore total in the PTI report. An ANI version of the story carried by The Tribune gave the GST figure as ₹3,000 crore, which does not match that total, so the PTI numbers are used here. The minister did not say over what period the taxes were collected or whether they include tax on sales of imported components.

Exports Up From ₹0.38 Lakh Crore

PTI’s report adds that electronics exports reached about ₹3.3 lakh crore in 2024-25, against ₹0.38 lakh crore ten years earlier, and that mobile phone imports fell to about 0.02 per cent of domestic demand in 2024-25. The critics’ point, according to the report, is that India still imports many components, unlike China’s local supply chain. In July, the Union Cabinet approved a new Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme with a ₹62,500 crore outlay for 2026-27 to 2030-31, which the ministry expects to lead to about ₹39 lakh crore of cumulative production and 60,000 direct jobs. See also our Economy coverage.

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New Scheme Runs to 2030-31

The new Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme covers five financial years, from 2026-27 to 2030-31. The reports seen by IPB did not carry a response from the critics or any further statement from the ministry.

Source: Based on reporting by ETV Bharat (PTI) and The Tribune (ANI).

Image: IANS (file).