Smartphones have for the first time emerged as the most exported item among products exported on the basis of Harmonized System (HS) codes between April and January in FY 2025. According to data received from the Commerce Department, smartphones worth $18.31 billion were exported from the country during April-January in the financial year 2025, leaving behind diesel fuel worth $16.04 billion, amid the ongoing turmoil over the tariff war across the world.
Smartphones were ranked fourth after vehicle diesel fuel, aviation fuel and diamond in HS category commodity exports during the same period in FY2024. Smartphones reached the top position due to huge growth in phone exports in April-January of FY 2025. Smartphone exports during April-January in the financial year 2025 have increased by 54.7 percent from $ 11.83 billion in the same period last year.
Experts say that this increase is partly due to increase in exports from India to America. Importers had imported more smartphones to build inventory in view of US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. For example, in January 2025, smartphone exports to the US, led by Apple’s iPhone, increased by 208 percent to $ 1.63 billion compared to the same month last year. This is also reflected in the fact that smartphone exports from India to the US grew by over 64 per cent to $6.6 billion between April-January.
It took only 5 years for smartphones to become the country’s top product in terms of exports. Smartphones were ranked 167th in terms of exports during 2014, before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government took office, which dropped to 23rd in FY 2019. The government came up with the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in 2020 to boost the production of smartphones. Since then there has been a tremendous increase in its production and export. Smartphones were at 9th place in terms of exports in FY 2022. Two years later, its exports tripled to $15.6 billion in fiscal year 2024 and it became the fourth most exported product. Smartphone second by December 2024
Became the most exported product and reached the top in January 2025. According to government estimates, smartphone exports could be $24 billion in fiscal year 2025. Of these, Apple iPhone’s contribution will be about two-thirds (Rs 1.5 lakh crore). Apple has now shifted 20 percent of its global iPhone production to India.
First Published – April 16, 2025 | 10:51 PM IST
