Will produce 50cr phones by 2020: IT min

The ministry has stated that the value addition in these indigenously made smartphones has grown considerably over the time

‘Made in India’ phones have seen significant growth, with the number of such devices poised to touch the 50 crore mark by 2019-20, an official said today. “In 2014, we produced 6 crore mobile phones. In 2016-17, we produced 17.5 crore mobile phones and we are well on path to producing 50 crore mobile phones by 2019-20,” IT ministry additional secretary Ajay Kumar said at an event here.

He added that the value addition in these indigenously made phones has also grown significantly over the years. “It was 10

per cent or so and now, it is 20 per cent and hopefully by 2020, it will be 35 per cent or so,” he said. Kumar was speaking at an event to mark the 50th anniversary of setting up of ELCINA, an industry body representing electronics manufacturers.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju lauded the role played by the electronics sector in empowering the country. “The first thing I always stress is it must be Made in India, you can acquire technology by collaboration, by signing MoU and we keep national interest on top of the mind. We will acquire the perfection of the particular item or instrument but in long term, we must ensure that it must be Made in India,” he said. He also called on the industry to come forward with their views and suggestions on promoting Indian companies in areas of defence technology. “I seek your opinion and suggestion. Please come up as industry as a whole. You must come up with a clear-cut suggestion, please identify that these are the bottlenecks, please suggest that government adopt this policy so that we become a manufacturing hub,” he added.