Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo To Make Phones In India For Global Selling

Synopsis- The companies which are in talks with the Government for the manufacturing units in the country include, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Reportedly the phone makers are eyeing the advantages of cash incentives that are available to local firms in the country, according to the people who are aware of the matter.

Walking on the line of ‘Make In India’, three major smartphone companies of China are in talks with the Indian Government about manufacturing the smartphones in India for selling in the global market, as reported by Bloomberg.

The companies which are in talks with the Government for the manufacturing units in the country include, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Reportedly the phone makers are eyeing the advantages of cash incentives that are available to local firms in the country, according to the people who are aware of the matter.

The smartphone makers are in talks with indigenous electronic manufacturing firms  Lava International and Dixon Technologies. Oppo and Vivo have started their talks with Lava International while Xiaomi is in touch with Dixon Technologies, as the people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

In alignment with this, if the discussion with the Government goes well, both parties will be contributing a major chunk of smartphones for the global market. Meanwhile, The Chinese executives are also planning to visit the manufacturing plant after the international travel curbs are lifted. Reportedly, China is the world’s largest smartphone producer and consumer as well.

What is Production Linked Incentive Scheme or PLI Scheme?

Production Linked Incentive Scheme or PLI Scheme was introduced by the Government of India in 2020 with a target to boost domestic manufacturing in the electronics sector. In order to do so, financial incentives were announced to attract large investments in the sector that includes the manufacturing of mobile phones and specified electronic components.

Apart from this, a report by India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), mobile export in India has touched its heights since the Government has introduced the Production Linked Incentive in 2020. The association further notes that the exports are expected to surpass 450 billion rupees by the end of March which is a 30-fold jump in five years.

Earlier, in January Amitabh Kant CEO of NITI Aayog (Government’s think tank) had tweeted about India being among the prominent manufacturers of mobile handsets. The tweet reads, “India has emerged as the second-largest manufacturer of mobile handsets in the world in volume terms.”

He further added the details stating, “Over 200 units are manufacturing cellular mobile phones up from only 2 units in 2014. Production has gone up from six crore mobile phones in 2014-15 to approx. 30 crore mobile phones in 2020-21.”

Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron which are the primary suppliers of Apple were among the first companies to sign up for the scheme. Following this, the Union Government has extended the area of incentives by including other electronic items such as laptops and semiconductors.

Interestingly, the move comes in the middle of a series of tensions between India and China since the year 2020. The ongoing conflict has resulted in clashes between the troops of both countries, followed by different levels of diplomatic talks and India’s ban on several chinese apps including the short video-making platform TikTok.