Not only are global behemoths like Apple and Samsung are pushing for greater localization. A large number of domestic firms that were previously importing a large portion of their content from China have also joined the government's Make in India initiative.

boAt Lifestyle, a market leader in audio devices and wearables is attempting to replace imported components with Indian-made ones. This will give the company a pricing advantage in manufacturing, which it will pass on to customers. Currently, contract manufacturers in India assemble approximately 80% of boAt's audio devices and 95% of its wearables.

In the next phase of localising its manufacturing, the company is in talks with suppliers in India for printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) and batteries, which typically make up the largest chunk of its input costs.

“PCB and the battery, which is the highest cost in the overall BOM (Bills of material) costs, is something that we are looking to localize, and then we go to the other tail items such as the plastics and mechanicals later on,” co-founder and product chief Sameer Mehta told Fe in an interaction.

The company has begun sourcing some of its PCBAs locally and hopes to have 70% of its total volume purchased from local suppliers by the end of next year. In terms of batteries, the company is still in talks with several suppliers and hopes to begin localizing the component by March.

boAt currently has manufacturing joint ventures with over 13 contract manufacturers in India, including Bharat FIH, Foxconn, VVDN Technologies, ILJIN Electronics, and Dixon Technologies, with whom it produces 60-65% of its overall volume.