Mobile manufacturing path for India: Lessons from other Asian countries

For almost two decades now Government of India has tried out numerous policies for establishing mobile manufacturing in the country. Though mobile production facilities started their operations in India in 2005, studies have shown that it is only low value assembly that is carried out in the country. In this paper, we infer a few policy lessons for India from the experiences of four Asian countries – South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Vietnam – that have walked down this path. We argue that for India to attain its goal, increasing public investment in mobile technology research will help. Our paper suggests that government should incentivise local firms to establish linkages with mobile manufacturing multinational firms. To capture more value, domestic firms that manufacture mobiles need to focus on R&D, marketing and branding activities.