Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Friday at the NDTV World Summit 2026 that India will achieve its own major milestone in the global smartphone market by introducing Indian-designed, manufactured, and branded mobile phones by October 23, 2028.
Overcoming Technical Complexities in Smartphone Design
Highlighting the immense engineering challenges involved in smartphone production, Vaishnaw noted that fitting radio frequency communication, antennas, compute modules, memory, cameras, displays, and power management into a compact form factor makes mobile design extremely complex.
The minister shared that three years ago, the government challenged Indian designers to create printed circuit boards (PCBs)—the essential motherboards of mobile devices. As a result of this initiative, an Indian design was successfully selected by a major US telecom service provider, with 5G-plus mobile phones already manufactured and delivered to customers abroad. This capability will now serve as the foundation for retaining Indian intellectual property and building top-selling domestic brands.
Economic Context and Electronics Export Growth
Critiquing the regulatory landscape of previous Congress administrations, Vaishnaw asserted that the historical manufacturing sector was previously stymied by restrictive rules and a control-oriented mindset before being revitalized by the post-2014 “Make in India” initiative.
Emphasizing India’s broader industrial expansion, Vaishnaw pointed out that electronics have rapidly grown to become India’s third-largest export category—with projections to soon claim the second spot—alongside advanced manufacturing in drones, missiles, and trains.
