INDIA IS FINALLY EXPORTING THE FACTORY

 

INDIA IS FINALLY EXPORTING THE FACTORY

From making products for India to making products for the world — the next test of Make in India is whether global companies will use India as a manufacturing base, not merely a sales market.

Biz Masala • Murthy ASR • 8 October 2026

THE FACTORY IS NO LONGER JUST MAKING FOR INDIA. IT IS BEGINNING TO MAKE FOR THE WORLD.

 

1. THE ERICSSON MOMENT

On October 7, Ericsson announced a milestone that deserves to be read as more than a company press release: more than 15,000 antennas and 25 million components have been produced in India since July 2025, and India-manufactured antennas are now being exported to Europe and other global markets. Ericsson says it is expanding capabilities across local sourcing, engineering, manufacturing and exports.

That is the precise shift we should watch. The important question is not whether a multinational has a factory in India. Multinationals have been manufacturing in India for decades. The question is whether India is becoming a node in a multinational's global production system.

Electronics production: the kind of manufacturing ecosystem India is trying to deepen. User-supplied image.

2. FROM MAKE IN INDIA TO MAKE FOR THE WORLD

For years, India's manufacturing ambition was framed around replacing imports and serving a vast domestic market. The next level is different: products must be designed, engineered, manufactured and quality-certified in India because they can compete in international markets.

Original Biz Masala analytical graphic.

3. INDIA'S FACTORY IS CHANGING

Original Biz Masala analytical graphic.

India's manufacturing base is becoming more diverse. Alongside automobiles, textiles, steel and chemicals are electronics, telecom equipment, pharmaceuticals, batteries, solar modules, medical devices, drones and other higher-technology sectors supported by industrial policy.

Automobiles	Textiles	Aircraft
Precision electronics	Industrial ecosystem	Automotive scale

4. THE NUMBERS ARE NO LONGER SMALL

Original Biz Masala graphic using government-reported PLI programme data.

Across 14 PLI sectors, approved financial outlay totals ₹1.91 lakh crore. As of March 31, 2026, actual investment was reported at more than ₹2.40 lakh crore, cumulative exports at more than ₹15.2 lakh crore and employment at more than 14.15 lakh direct and indirect jobs.

These are programme-level figures, not proof that every rupee of incentive caused every rupee of investment or exports. PLI is one part of a broader industrial ecosystem that also includes infrastructure, trade policy, logistics, skills, foreign investment and supplier development.

5. THE ELECTRONICS BREAKTHROUGH

Government data show electronics production rising from about ₹1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2025-26. Electronics exports rose from about ₹38,000 crore to ₹4.24 lakh crore. Mobile-phone exports rose from about ₹1,566 crore to ₹2.59 lakh crore over the same period.

The transformation matters because mobile phones are a gateway industry: they pull in assembly, packaging, testing, components, logistics, tooling and increasingly engineering.

Precision electronics and clean production are part of the next layer of India's manufacturing ecosystem. User-supplied image.

6. BUT HOW MUCH OF THE FACTORY IS ACTUALLY IN INDIA?

EXPORT VALUE ≠ DOMESTIC VALUE ADDED

 

Original Biz Masala analytical graphic.

An export can be large in gross value while containing substantial imported components. That does not make the export meaningless. The Economic Survey argues that deeper participation in global value chains can initially increase foreign value added through imported inputs while still generating higher absolute domestic value added and employment over time.

For electronics, government releases cite domestic value addition rising over time, with one April 2026 release putting it at 18%-20% and a July 2026 release citing 23%. Because definitions and reporting points can differ, we use the figures as evidence of direction rather than pretending there is one timeless number.

7. BUILD THE FACTORY BEHIND THE FACTORY

Original Biz Masala analytical graphic.

A global manufacturing hub is not created by one assembly line. It requires suppliers capable of producing parts, sub-assemblies, tooling, testing equipment, packaging, materials and software behind the final product.

The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme is designed to move India beyond finished products toward components, sub-modules, base materials and capital equipment. By August 2026, 106 ECMS projects had been approved, with projected investment of ₹69,548 crore and around 75,000 direct jobs, according to MeitY.

8. THE ERICSSON MODEL IS INTERESTING FOR ONE REASON

Ericsson's announcement explicitly describes an ecosystem spanning component sourcing, engineering, production and exports. That matters more than the headline number of antennas.

If a multinational's Indian operation feeds global customers, local suppliers have an incentive to invest to global specifications. Engineers gain exposure to international quality standards. Logistics providers develop export capabilities. Component companies can scale.

A factory is an asset. A supplier ecosystem is an industrial capability.

 

9. INDIA'S CHINA PROBLEM — DEPTH

India should not frame the opportunity as simply becoming 'the next China'. China built extraordinary manufacturing depth through dense supplier networks, specialised clusters, infrastructure, tooling and scale. India is entering the global manufacturing race at a moment when multinational companies are diversifying supply chains, which creates an opening — but not a guarantee.

The Economic Survey estimates India accounted for about 2.9% of global manufacturing gross value added and 1.8% of global merchandise exports in 2024. It identifies relatively low participation in global value chains, particularly backward-linked activity, as an area of potential.

Ports are where an industrial ecosystem meets the global market. User-supplied image.

10. THE COUNTERINTUITIVE ANSWER: IMPORTING CAN HELP

There is a danger in treating every imported component as evidence that Make in India has failed. If a company imports a sophisticated component, assembles a competitive product in India, exports it at scale and gradually builds domestic supplier capability, the import can be part of the industrialisation process.

The Economic Survey makes essentially this argument: deeper integration into global value chains can raise domestic value added and employment through scale effects even when imported intermediates remain part of the production model.

The objective should not be to import nothing. It should be to capture more value in India as scale and capability rise.

 

11. THE JOBS QUESTION

Original Biz Masala analytical graphic.

Manufacturing can create jobs at several levels: factory production, quality control, suppliers, logistics, warehousing, maintenance, engineering, design and R&D. Government data put the electronics manufacturing ecosystem at nearly 25 lakh jobs in 2026, while the mobile-manufacturing workforce has a particularly high share of women.

The larger lesson is that the employment impact of manufacturing is not confined to workers visible on the production line. The deeper the supplier and services network, the larger the potential employment footprint.

12. THE EXPORT MACHINE

Container terminal: the final physical link between an Indian factory and a foreign customer. User-supplied image.

Global shipping infrastructure turns factory output into exports. User-supplied image.

The export photograph completes the economic chain. The real industrial transformation occurs when an Indian factory can produce repeatedly to global specifications, move product through Indian logistics infrastructure and deliver competitively to customers overseas.

Ericsson's India-made antennas going to Europe are interesting precisely because the destination is not simply the Indian market. The production line is becoming part of a global network.

13. WHAT INDIA HAS TO SOLVE NEXT

·       Lower logistics and power costs while improving reliability.

·       Deepen domestic component and tooling ecosystems.

·       Expand supplier finance so smaller firms can scale with anchor manufacturers.

·       Build specialised skills in precision production, quality, engineering and industrial automation.

·       Make trade and customs processes predictable enough for global supply chains.

·       Move from incentive-led production toward productivity-led competitiveness.

·       Increase domestic value addition without isolating Indian factories from global technology and components.

·       Create more Indian design, engineering, R&D and intellectual-property ownership around manufacturing.

14. THE BIG INDUSTRIAL QUESTION

India has already demonstrated that it can scale production. Electronics exports are growing rapidly. PLI-supported sectors have attracted large investment and generated substantial exports. Global companies are increasingly treating India as part of their supply-chain strategy.

But the next phase is harder. India has to move from assembly to ecosystems, from factories to supplier networks, from exports to higher domestic value added, and from low-cost production to productivity and innovation.

INDIA IS NO LONGER ASKING WHETHER IT CAN MANUFACTURE. IT IS ASKING WHETHER IT CAN MANUFACTURE DEEPLY ENOUGH TO MATTER.

 

15. BIZ MASALA VERDICT

The Ericsson milestone is small compared with the scale of India's economy. But it is symbolically important because it captures a transition that has been building for years: India is increasingly becoming a production location for products that are sold beyond India.

That is the real evolution of Make in India. The first ambition was to manufacture domestically. The second was to reduce import dependence. The third — and potentially the most economically consequential — is to become part of the world's manufacturing network.

If India succeeds, the final product will not simply carry a 'Made in India' label. The engineering, suppliers, components, logistics, skills and intellectual property around that product will increasingly carry an Indian footprint too.

THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS NOT JUST 'MADE IN INDIA'. IT IS: DESIGNED IN INDIA. ENGINEERED IN INDIA. SOURCED IN INDIA. MADE IN INDIA. EXPORTED FROM INDIA.

 

 

SOURCES & DATA NOTES

·       Ericsson — 7 Oct 2026: antenna manufacturing and exports from India — https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2/2026/ericsson-scales-ai-ready-antenna-manufacturing-and-ecosystem-in-india

·       PIB — 21 Jul 2026: PLI investment, exports and employment — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2287008&lang=1&reg=3

·       PIB — 15 Jul 2026: electronics production, exports and jobs — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2284808&lang=16&reg=5

·       Economic Survey 2025-26 — global value chains — https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/economicsurvey/doc/eschapter/echap08.pdf

·       PIB — 17 Sep 2026: Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme — https://www.pib.gov.in/FactsheetDetails.aspx?Id=151016&lang=1&reg=48

·       PIB — 17 Aug 2026: ECMS project approvals — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2300625&lang=1&reg=48

IMAGE & RIGHTS NOTE

The photographs in this edition were supplied in the conversation and used as editorial inputs. Before external publication, Biz Masala should verify copyright, licensing, agency attribution and documentary provenance for each supplied image. The hero image and analytical graphics are original Biz Masala editorial composites created for this edition.