India aims for domestic smartphone brands by 2028

Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced at the NDTV World Summit that India intends to launch Indian-designed, manufactured, and branded mobile phones by October 23, 2028. The goal is to build domestic intellectual property and establish top-selling brands in the global market.

Vaishnaw highlighted the technical complexity of smartphone engineering, noting the difficulty of integrating radio-frequency communications, antennas, computing systems, and power management into compact devices. He noted that a government initiative to challenge engineers to design printed circuit boards (PCBs) has already seen success, with an Indian design being selected by a major United States telecommunications provider for 5G-plus handsets.

The minister also noted that electronics have become India’s third-largest export category, with projections suggesting it may soon become the second-largest, alongside growth in advanced manufacturing sectors such as drones and missiles.