New Delhi, October 23 — India will have its own globally competitive smartphone brands within the next two years, with Indian-designed, Indian-manufactured and Indian-branded mobile phones expected by 2028, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday at the NDTV World Summit in the national capital, IANS reported. 'This is 23 October 2026. Please note it: 23 October 2028. You will have Indian-designed, Indian-manufactured, Indian-branded mobile phones,' the minister said, expressing confidence that India would witness its own 'Apple and Samsung moment' in the smartphone industry.

Source: IANS via HiIndia

Vaishnaw said the design challenge had been given to Indian designers around three years ago and two companies took it up, Gizbot reported from the same address. One of them, he said, went on to design, manufacture and deliver a 5G smartphone to one of the largest telecom service providers in the United States, and the experience of roughly three-and-a-half years had built the capability for the next step: an Indian brand, with Indian design and the intellectual property retained in India. The minister did not name the Indian company or the US operator, and did not disclose the proposed brand's name, price, specifications or production volumes.

Source: Gizbot (NDTV World Summit remarks)

23 October 2028Vaishnaw's date for Indian-designed, Indian-made, Indian-branded phones
2028First made-in-India chip also due, the minister said
About 3 yearsSince the smartphone design challenge was given to Indian designers
Coming weeksConsultation paper on an AI law expected

Explaining why smartphone design is difficult, Vaishnaw held up a handset and said radio-frequency communication systems, antennas, processors, memory, camera modules, displays and power management all have to fit into a small device while balancing weight and power, IANS reported. Designing such devices, he said, is one of the most complex engineering tasks in consumer electronics.

Source: IANS via HiIndia

AI law consultation in the coming weeks

The government is also planning to start a consultation process for framing legislation on artificial intelligence in the coming weeks, Vaishnaw said, PTI reported. 'Today the time has come when the risks of AI have crossed a threshold where we should come up with a law and new regulations. Harms from the new technology can be regulated,' he said, adding that a consultation paper is being drafted and will gather inputs from citizens, society and industry, and that the world's top AI ecosystems need to work jointly on fundamental principles for the technology.

Source: PTI via The Hindu BusinessLine

On phones, PTI reported the minister as saying that Indian mobile phone brands designed and manufactured locally will be ready by October 2028, that the first made-in-India chip will also be ready by 2028, and that the government has come up with an incentive scheme to boost mobile phone production and promote the development of designed-and-made-in-India mobile phone brands.

Source: PTI via The Hindu BusinessLine