India scraps import duties on some parts used to make devices like phones until March 31, 2029, removing 7.5% and 5% levies, which might help Apple and Xiaomi
Context & Ripple Effects
India has been steadily lowering tariff barriers around handset production: it cut duties on mobile phones and key parts in 2024, removed duties on selected smartphone components in 2025, and has paired tariff changes with proposed manufacturing subsidies.
The latest exemption extends that direction through March 2029. Related coverage also indicates policy is evolving beyond tariffs, with prospective incentives tied to exports and greater use of local components.
First-order effects
- Apple, Xiaomi and their manufacturing partners can import the covered inputs without the 7.5% and 5% levies through March 2029, lowering the cost of assembling eligible devices in India.
- The multi-year end date gives manufacturers a clearer planning window for sourcing and production decisions than a short-lived duty cut.
Second-order effects
- Lower input costs improve the economics of India-based assembly relative to importing finished devices, encouraging suppliers and contract manufacturers to route more device production through the country.
- Because newer incentive proposals emphasize exports and local-content use, manufacturers have reason to balance imported-component savings against investments in domestic supplier capacity.
Third-order effects
- If tariff relief remains coupled with export- and localization-linked incentives, India’s device policy is likely to shift from protecting final assembly toward making its manufacturing base cost-competitive within global supply chains.
- The durability of that shift depends on whether local component ecosystems can expand alongside import relief; otherwise the country may gain assembly volume without equivalent upstream localization.
The trend: India is using a mix of lower component tariffs and targeted manufacturing incentives to make local electronics production more viable while pushing it toward exports and deeper domestic sourcing.