India, July 17 -- The Union Cabinet's approval of the Rs 62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) signals a new phase in India's electronics manufacturing strategy, with policymakers and industry leaders increasingly focusing on domestic value addition, component manufacturing and intellectual property creation rather than assembly volumes alone.

The five-year programme, which will run from FY27 to FY31, succeeds the Production Linked Incentive scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (PLI-LSEM), which ended in March 2026 after helping India emerge as the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer by volume.

While the earlier programme was primarily aimed at attracting global manufacturers and building product...