Mobile phone exports: Amitabh Kant panel eyes Vietnam-like model

A committee headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is expected to make its recommendations soon on how to jump-start India’s exports of mobile phones in particular and electronics in general. The committee was set up in the context of the failure of India’s phased-manufacturing-programme (PMP) for mobiles —while production of mobile handsets grew rapidly, so did imports.

As US-China trade tensions escalate, several big manufacturers who have facilities in China are keen to relocate, and as many are looking at Vietnam, India is hoping to get a slice of that pie as well. Kant’s committee has to come up with suggestions to reduce India’s ‘disability’ — or higher production costs — in comparison with China and Vietnam.