Kolkata: Following the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the mobile-manufacturing ecosystem in India has saved a massive amount of 3 lakh crore for the country. The India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) on Wednesday said that this has been achieved by replacing imports of completely-built units (CBUs) with locally assembled and manufactured mobile handsets over the past four years.

The ICEA, in a report, said, “In 2017-18, over 225 million handsets were assembled/manufactured in India, which was roughly 80% of the total market requirement”.

The ICEA estimated that by 2018-19, the local mobile handset manufacturing industry will generate mobile phones valued at Rs 1,65,000 crore.

In a media statement, ICEA chairman and national president said, “Most global handset brands and manufacturers are eyeing India, which is the world’s fastest growing smartphone market, having overtaken the US last year to become the world’s second largest smartphone market after China”.

India is soon moving towards ‘zero imports’ for mobile phones. According to ICEA, the government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ initiatives are ‘acting as gateways to spur the growth of India’s tech and telecom industry’.