New Delhi, May 17 (IANS): Giving a thrust on domestic manufacturing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that mobile manufacturing units have increased from just two in 2014 to more than 200 in the country.

Addressing a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) programme via video conferencing, Modi said that in the last eight years, new energy has been infused into the telecom sector.

"To make the mobile accessible to the poorest of the poor families, emphasis was placed on the manufacturing of mobile phones in the country itself. The result was that the mobile manufacturing units increased from 2 to more than 200," he emphasised.

The Prime Minister cited the telecom sector as a great example of how self-reliance and healthy competition create a multiplier effect in society and the economy.

"Coming out of the despair, frustration, corruption and policy paralysis of the 2G era, the country has moved rapidly from 3G to 4G and now 5G and 6G," he mentioned.

India will have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026 with rural areas driving the sale of internet-enabled phones, according to a latest Deloitte study.

India had 1.2 billion mobile subscribers in 2021, of which about 750 million are smartphone users.

Due to domestic manufacturing, the country is set to be the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the next five years.

"Higher internet adoption is expected to fuel demand for smartphones; this increased demand will be propelled by the need to adopt fintech, e-health, and e-learning," said the report.