India’s Electronics Exports to China Surge as Made-in-India Components Enter Chinese Supply Chains

For decades, the electronics trade between India and China moved overwhelmingly in one direction. Indian manufacturers imported components, sub-assemblies, machinery and finished electronic products from Chinese factories, while India’s exports to China remained concentrated largely in commodities, chemicals and industrial materials. Trade data for FY2025-26 now show a new flow developing within that relationship: Indian-made electronic assemblies and components are being shipped at substantial scale into China itself.

The clearest evidence comes from printed circuit board assemblies, or PCBAs. India’s PCBA exports to China surged from approximately $36 million in FY2024-25 to around $1.5 billion in FY2025-26, an increase of more than forty times in a single financial year. India’s total PCBA exports reached approximately $1.9 billion, which means China accounted for close to 80% of India’s entire PCBA exports by value.

The surge has emerged alongside the rapid expansion of India’s wider electronics industry. Electronics production has increased from approximately ₹1.9 lakh crore in FY2014-15 to ₹13.11 lakh crore in FY2025-26, while electronics exports have climbed from about ₹38,000 crore to ₹4.24 lakh crore. In dollar terms, India’s electronic-goods exports reached a record $47.96 billion in FY2025-26.

PCBA Exports to China Jump From $36 Million to $1.5 Billion

Printed circuit board assemblies are central building blocks of modern electronic equipment. A PCBA is produced when semiconductors, memory devices, capacitors, resistors, connectors and other electronic components are mounted onto a printed circuit board. These assemblies subsequently become part of smartphones, computers, telecommunications systems, industrial equipment, automobiles, data-centre hardware and numerous other electronic products.

India exported approximately $1.9 billion worth of PCBAs in FY2025-26, more than twenty times the level recorded a year earlier. Of this, around $1.5 billion went to China, compared with only approximately $36 million in FY2024-25.

The increase means India’s PCBA shipments to China expanded by more than 4,000% in a single year. Commerce Department data reported during 2026 also placed PCBAs among India’s largest individual export items to the Chinese market.

China consequently emerged as the overwhelmingly dominant destination for Indian PCBA exports. Approximately four out of every five dollars earned by India from exporting these assemblies during FY26 came from shipments to China.

India’s Electronics Manufacturing Base Approaches ₹13.11 Lakh Crore

The PCBA export surge has emerged from an electronics manufacturing industry that is now several times larger than it was a decade ago.

India produced approximately ₹1.9 lakh crore worth of electronics in FY2014-15. Production reached approximately ₹13.11 lakh crore in FY2025-26, representing nearly sevenfold growth in eleven years.

Exports expanded considerably faster. Electronic-goods exports increased from approximately ₹38,263 crore in FY2014-15 to ₹4.24 lakh crore in FY2025-26, an increase of roughly eleven times.

Measured in dollars, India exported a record $47.96 billion of electronic goods during FY2025-26. Electronics have consequently moved from a relatively small component of India’s merchandise exports to one of the country’s largest export categories.

The export growth has also outpaced the expansion of domestic electronics production. This indicates that India’s manufacturing base is increasingly being used to supply overseas markets rather than functioning predominantly as an import-substitution platform for domestic consumption.

The Numbers Behind India’s Electronics Expansion

The scale of the transformation becomes clearer when the major indicators are placed together.

Indicator	Earlier Level	FY2025-26
Electronics production	₹1.9 lakh crore in FY2014-15	₹13.11 lakh crore
Electronics exports	₹38,263 crore in FY2014-15	₹4.24 lakh crore
Electronic-goods exports	—	$47.96 billion
Mobile-phone production	₹18,900 crore in FY2014-15	₹6.27 lakh crore
Mobile-phone exports	₹1,566 crore in FY2014-15	₹2.60 lakh crore
Total PCBA exports	Below $100 million in FY2024-25	~$1.9 billion
PCBA exports to China	~$36 million in FY2024-25	~$1.5 billion
China share of Indian PCBA exports	Small	~80%

The numbers show two different stages of India’s electronics expansion occurring simultaneously. Finished-device manufacturing, particularly smartphones, has already achieved enormous scale, while components and electronic sub-assemblies are beginning to develop their own export markets.

China Absorbs Nearly 80% of India’s PCBA Exports

China’s approximately $1.5-billion share of India’s $1.9-billion PCBA exports is particularly notable because China possesses the world’s largest and deepest electronics manufacturing ecosystem.

Indian-made assemblies entering Chinese factories therefore represent a different trade flow from India’s established exports of finished smartphones to markets such as the United States.

These PCBAs are intermediate manufactured products. They can enter another country’s manufacturing chain before becoming part of a finished electronic device or industrial system.

Indian factories are consequently beginning to participate in cross-border electronics production networks at the component and sub-assembly level rather than exclusively supplying finished products.

The movement also demonstrates that certain Indian manufacturing operations have reached volumes and cost structures capable of servicing customers outside the domestic market.

Mobile Phones Created India’s First Electronics Export Platform

The foundation for this expansion was built largely through mobile-phone manufacturing.

India produced only around ₹18,900 crore worth of mobile phones in FY2014-15. By FY2025-26, production had climbed to approximately ₹6.27 lakh crore, representing a 33-fold expansion.

Exports grew even more dramatically. Mobile-phone exports increased from approximately ₹1,566 crore in FY2014-15 to around ₹2.60 lakh crore in FY2025-26, representing growth of roughly 165 times.

Mobile phones consequently moved from being India’s 153rd-largest export item in FY2014-15 to its largest individual export product in FY2025-26, according to government figures.

Large-scale smartphone production also created demand for camera modules, batteries, chargers, mechanical enclosures, connectors, printed circuit assemblies, display-related components and other electronic inputs. Manufacturers supplying these factories have gradually acquired greater production volumes, technical capabilities and export opportunities.

The next stage of India’s electronics expansion is increasingly centred on these layers beneath final assembly.

Domestic Electronics Value Addition Rises to Around 23%

India’s electronics industry continues to depend significantly on imported components, but domestic value addition has increased as manufacturing has expanded.

Government figures place domestic value addition across electronics manufacturing at approximately 23%, compared with around 15% earlier. More than 40 major component manufacturers have established or expanded operations in India, accompanied by a larger network of smaller suppliers.

The remaining import dependence is substantial. India continues to import semiconductors, display systems, specialised electronic components, manufacturing machinery and numerous raw materials required by its electronics factories.

Component localisation has therefore become the next major industrial expansion area. PCBAs sit near the centre of that process because they combine semiconductor devices and numerous other components into functional electronic assemblies.

₹40,000-Crore Component Scheme Pushes Manufacturing Deeper

The Government of India launched the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, or ECMS, in April 2025 with an initial government outlay of ₹22,919 crore. The allocation was subsequently expanded to ₹40,000 crore under the Union Budget 2026-27.

By August 2026, 106 projects across 15 states had been approved under the programme. Approved investments had reached approximately ₹69,548 crore, covering 30 electronic product categories.

Production had already begun at 38 approved plants, while another 16 projects had entered advanced stages involving construction or machinery installation.

The programme covers areas including multi-layer printed circuit boards, high-density interconnect boards, copper-clad laminates and other electronic components and materials. These products sit deeper inside the electronics manufacturing chain than final assembly and have historically represented areas of considerable import dependence.

India’s manufacturing strategy is therefore moving from building finished products towards establishing the component, material and sub-assembly ecosystem required to support them.

Electronics Drive India’s Latest Export Growth to China

The momentum continued into FY2026-27. During April-August 2026, India’s merchandise exports to China reached approximately $9.61 billion, increasing by about 39% year-on-year.

Electronics exports to China increased by approximately 15%, while engineering-goods exports rose around 20%. Petroleum-product shipments increased about 13.5%, while chemical exports also recorded growth.

The composition of the increase shows manufactured products contributing alongside India’s more traditional exports to China.

Rapid expansion of artificial-intelligence computing infrastructure and data centres is also increasing demand across the global electronics industry for circuit assemblies, networking equipment, servers, power electronics and other intermediate products. Indian manufacturers are beginning to participate in portions of these supply chains.

Apple Supply Chains Add Another Dimension

The changing pattern extends beyond PCBAs. India’s rapid emergence as a major Apple manufacturing location has created increasingly complex component flows between Asian production centres.

India is now a major global production base for iPhones, while suppliers connected with Apple’s manufacturing network are establishing and expanding operations across the country. Components and sub-assemblies can move between India, China, Vietnam and other manufacturing centres before final products reach consumers.

This creates a different trade structure from the earlier model in which components predominantly entered India from China for final assembly.

Chinese electronic components continue to enter Indian factories in enormous quantities, but selected products manufactured in India are now travelling in the opposite direction and entering manufacturing chains located in China.

China Still Supplies Far More Electronics to India

The emerging export flow remains small compared with India’s electronics imports from China.

India imported approximately $46.4 billion worth of electronics products from China in FY2025-26. Electronics represented roughly 35% of India’s total imports from the Chinese market.

India’s overall merchandise imports from China reached approximately $131.6 billion, while Indian exports to China stood at around $19.5 billion. The bilateral merchandise trade deficit consequently remained approximately $112.1 billion.

The comparison shows the scale clearly:

India–China Trade Indicator	FY2025-26
India’s PCBA exports to China	~$1.5 billion
India’s total exports to China	~$19.5 billion
India’s electronics imports from China	~$46.4 billion
India’s total imports from China	~$131.6 billion
India’s merchandise trade deficit with China	~$112.1 billion

India therefore remains heavily dependent on Chinese industrial supply chains, particularly for electronic components, electrical equipment, machinery and intermediate industrial products.

The new development lies inside that much larger trade relationship: an identifiable electronics manufacturing flow has begun moving from India into China at billion-dollar scale.

India’s Electronics Trade With China Becomes Increasingly Two-Way

The traditional electronics supply chain between the two countries largely consisted of Chinese components entering India, followed by assembly for Indian consumers or export to third-country markets.

The PCBA numbers introduce another route: Indian factories manufacturing electronic assemblies that subsequently enter Chinese production networks.

The scale reached in FY2025-26 is already substantial. Approximately $1.5 billion of Indian PCBAs entered China, compared with just $36 million one year earlier.

China’s nearly 80% share of India’s PCBA exports also shows that these were not isolated shipments scattered among numerous markets. China itself became the principal foreign customer for this category of Indian-made electronic assemblies.

From ₹38,263 Crore to ₹4.24 Lakh Crore in Electronics Exports

The longer-term export numbers provide the industrial background to this development.

India exported approximately ₹38,263 crore of electronics in FY2014-15. Eleven years later, the figure had reached ₹4.24 lakh crore.

Electronics production expanded from ₹1.9 lakh crore to ₹13.11 lakh crore.

Mobile-phone production expanded from ₹18,900 crore to ₹6.27 lakh crore.

Mobile-phone exports expanded from ₹1,566 crore to ₹2.60 lakh crore.

Overall electronic-goods exports reached $47.96 billion.

PCBA exports reached approximately $1.9 billion.

PCBA exports to China reached approximately $1.5 billion.

During the first five months of FY2026-27, India’s overall merchandise exports to China then increased approximately 39% year-on-year, with electronics exports continuing to grow.

Taken together, the numbers record the movement of India’s electronics industry through successive manufacturing stages. The first expansion substituted domestically assembled products for finished imports. The next created large-scale exports of finished devices, led overwhelmingly by smartphones. The current phase is pushing investment deeper into components, materials and electronic sub-assemblies.

Made in India Components Enter the World’s Largest Electronics Manufacturing Ecosystem

China remains the dominant manufacturing power in Asian electronics and continues to supply India with tens of billions of dollars of electronic products every year. India’s dependence on Chinese components and industrial inputs remains substantial, and the bilateral trade deficit continues to exceed $100 billion.

Against that backdrop, the increase in Indian PCBA exports carries unusually clear numerical evidence of a new manufacturing capability.

In FY2024-25, India sold China only about $36 million of PCBAs. One year later, the figure stood at approximately $1.5 billion. China accounted for close to 80% of India’s exports of the product, while India’s overall PCBA exports crossed approximately $1.9 billion.

At home, electronics production has simultaneously reached ₹13.11 lakh crore, exports have climbed to ₹4.24 lakh crore, mobile-phone exports have reached ₹2.60 lakh crore, domestic value addition has increased to around 23%, and approved investments under the electronics-component programme have reached nearly ₹70,000 crore.

The trade relationship remains deeply unequal in China’s favour, but its structure is no longer entirely one-directional. Indian factories are beginning to supply electronic assemblies into the same Chinese manufacturing ecosystem from which India has historically imported them.

A rise from $36 million to $1.5 billion in one year provides the clearest numerical marker of that change.

---

References

Press Information Bureau, Government of India — Electronics manufacturing and export performance data, 2026.

Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology — Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme progress and investment data, 2026.

Department of Commerce, Government of India — TradeStat country-wise and commodity-wise merchandise trade data.

Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India — Electronic-goods export and India–China trade data.

Business Standard — Reporting based on Department of Commerce data covering India’s PCBA exports to China, 2026.

The Economic Times — India–China electronics, component and supply-chain trade reporting, September 2026.

---