Electronics Set To Overtake Petroleum As India’s Second-Largest Export Amid Decline In Oil Shipments

India’s booming electronics industry is on track to overtake petroleum products as the country’s second-largest export category within the next two years, as tightening US pressure on Indian refiners to curb Russian oil purchases continues to weigh on fuel shipments.

Commerce ministry data for the first half of FY26 show that electronics exports have surged 42 per cent year-on-year to $22.2 billion, making it India’s fastest-growing export segment.

Nearly half of this figure comes from Apple’s iPhone shipments, which alone touched a record $10 billion in the six months to September. Petroleum product exports, meanwhile, dropped 16.4 per cent to $30.6 billion, continuing their steady decline since FY23.

Engineering goods maintained their lead with exports of $59.3 billion, up 5.35 per cent from a year earlier.

Petroleum, though still in second place, has seen its share shrink sharply from $97.4 billion in FY23 to $63.3 billion in FY25 narrowing the gap with electronics from $73.9 billion at the start of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to $24.7 billion in FY25.

Experts note that India’s oil export slowdown could accelerate as sanctions erode access to discounted Russian crude.

The smartphone PLI scheme has been pivotal in propelling India’s electronics sector, with Apple, Samsung, and Dixon Technologies leading the charge.

India has rapidly emerged as Apple’s second-largest production base after China, with made-in-India iPhones now accounting for over one-fifth of global shipments.

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