The Indian government awarded INR450 billion ($6.12 billion) in incentives to 16 domestic and international electronics companies, including Samsung and three Apple contract manufacturing partners, to boost smartphone production over the next five years, Bloomberg reported.

In a statement, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the international handset vendors approved under the scheme include Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron and Rising Star, while the local makers are Lava, Micromax, Padget Electronics, UTL Neolyncs and Optiemus Electronics. Six companies in the components segment also will receive the production-linked incentives.

Under the scheme, the companies are expected to produce smartphones and other components valued at INR10.5 trillion over the five-year period and export about 60 per cent of total output. In return, the government will extend incentives of 4 per cent to 6 per cent of any increase in sales from fiscal 2019-20. They also are required to invest an additional INR111 billion in electronics manufacturing and create more than 200,000 jobs.

Bloomberg stated the majority of the distributed funds (INR410 billion) will be based on production-linked incentives, with the remainder offered under a capital subsidy or reimbursement scheme.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Electronics and IT, Communications, Law and Justice, said he was confident the scheme will help make India a competitive destination for electronics manufacturing and boost its push for self-reliance.