India-designed mobile phones likely in 10-14 months under MPMS; no place for copycats: Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Indigenously designed mobile phones with Indian companies owning their IP rights are expected to hit the market in 10-14 months under the Rs 62,500-crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS), Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

The minister said the government will be rigid on screening Indian brands and will not allow "copycats" to get any benefit under the scheme.

Announcing the notification of the MPMS, Vaishnaw said companies applying for the scheme will have to prove that they own intellectual property (IP) rights of the design used in manufacturing the phones.


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"In this target segment of developing Indian brands, we are very particular that the design has to be your own design. It cannot just be a copycat. They have to come up with the design and prove that the IP is their own. We see three players who have the potential of coming up in a time frame of, let us say, about 10-14 months from now," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said the government will not show any flexibility while evaluating the design of these phones.

"We have asked three players to come up with design options. The challenge we have given them is that the design has to match the best in your segment. It cannot be a design which cannot compete with the best in your segment," Vaishnaw said.

Designing a product like a mobile phone with its own patented technology will need huge technical expertise. At present, no mobile phone is entirely designed in India.

Also Read: Mobile phone makers with turnover of Rs 10,000 cr in FY26 eligible for MPMS: Govt

Korean major Samsung has a research and development team of more than 3,000 people in India, contributing in development of some features used in its Galaxy smartphones.

Among domestic brands, Lava International and Ai+ claim that they design their smartphones locally.

The MPMS has been divided in two parts -- incentivising mobile phone manufacturing, which is target segment 1 (TS1), and supporting Indian mobile phone brands as target segment 2 (TS2).

Under TS1, mobile phone companies, including electronics contract manufacturers, with a turnover of Rs 10,000 crore in FY26 will be eligible for MPMS benefits.

The minister said the incentive will remain fungible between the two segments.

Mobile phone companies, including electronic manufacturing services (EMS) firms applying for TS2, will need to have 51 per cent Indian ownership, and a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in FY26 to be eligible for participation in the scheme.

"We had a mobile manufacturing ecosystem. But because of tax issues and Chinese onslaught, it became impossible for them (Indian firms) to compete in the market. Now that we have been able to establish the ecosystem back in our country, time has come... to focus on developing the Indian brand," Vaishnaw said.

The MPMS has been introduced following the expiry of mobile production-linked incentive scheme in March 2026.

MPMS will be in place for five years starting this fiscal year. Applicants with majority Indian ownership can get a gestation period of one year.

The government expects the mobile phone scheme to drive cumulative production almost double to around Rs 39 lakh crore during its tenure and generate about 60,000 direct jobs.

The scheme also aims at doubling domestically produced in value terms to Rs 15 lakh crore during the scheme period from around Rs 7.5 lakh crore under the previous scheme.

Under the guidelines, any existing brand will be required to meet the minimum threshold sales of Rs 5,000 crore every year over and above the total sales of FY26 to be eligible for benefits under the scheme.

This means, threshold sales over and above the FY26 turnover will be Rs 5,000 crore for the ongoing 2026-27 fiscal year, Rs 10,000 crore for FY28, Rs 15,000 crore for FY29, Rs 20,000 crore for FY30, and Rs 25,000 crore for FY31.

Any new brand will become eligible for benefits under the scheme only after achieving total annual sales of Rs 10,000 crore in India.

The incentive amount will be eligible sales in a financial year multiplied by the incentive rates -- 2.75 per cent in FY27 and FY28, 2.5 per cent in FY29 and FY30, and 2.25 per cent in FY31.

However, there has been no threshold fixed for companies applying under support for Indian mobile phone brands and they will be given a 5 per cent incentive on eligible sales of mobile phones manufactured in India.

Besides incentives, the scheme has provision for 3 per cent of eligible sales for research and development.

"For Indian brands, to make them global, we are trying to look at technological sovereignty, strategic autonomy, which we are striving for all the time, capture greater economic value and also to build our own products and intellectual property. Making India a product nation is very much a key objective of Meity," Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said.

Additional incentives of up to 1.5 per cent will be provided on sales for domestic sourcing of components such as display modules, batteries, USB cables, etc.

The scheme will be implemented through a project management agency. Guidelines for the implementation of the scheme will be separately issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The scheme guidelines are expected to be in place within two weeks after which the application and selection process of eligible companies will start.

Mobile phone companies using domestically produced electronics components -- display module, camera module, enclosure, batteries and USB cables, including connectors, will get additional incentive in the range of 0.2-0.5 per cent.