AKIPRESS.COM - More than two dozen firms set up smartphone assembling units as part of the 'Make in India' program, reports ZD Net.

With the Indian government determined to promote local manufacturing in 25 sectors including electronic equipment, around two dozen new smartphone assembling units have been established by various companies in less than two years in India, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" campaign launched in September 2014.

According to International Data Corporation's (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report released last week, more than two thirds of the smartphones shipped in Q1 2016 were assembled within the country and some of the companies, which are currently assembling mobile phones locally, are likely to start manufacturing components like batteries, chargers, and data cables, owing to support from the federal and state governments.

As many as 23.5 million units of smartphones were shipped in India in Q1 2016, registering 5.2 percent growth over the same period last year. "4G based smartphones shipments clocked 15.4 million units in Q1 2016, which has grown more than six times over the same period last year," the report said.

The two dozen companies that are engaged in assembling smartphones include Chinese phone makers Vivo and Gionee -- which have set up assembling units in Greater Noida near Delhi and in Andhra Pradesh respectively -- and Samsung, also in Noida. Others such as Xiaomi, Motorola, and Lenovo too have set up their plants, while South Korea's LG Electronics is looking for a suitable place to establish a local component base for its business in the country.

One of the reasons why Apple is interested in establishing its manufacturing facility in India, according to the IDC report, is that smartphone penetration has been only 30 percent at present and there was good scope for other companies to set up units in the country.

However, smartphone shipments shrank by 8.2 percent over Q4 2015, dipping consecutively for two quarters, but the market is expected to gain momentum in the upcoming months, the report said.