Indian manufacturer plans 20 million unit expansion to target $2.4bn market shift as government cracks down on grey-market imports.
Optiemus Infracom has announced plans to expand its smartphone screen-protector manufacturing capacity by 20 million (2 crore) units, aiming to capitalise on the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) new mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification deadline of 1 April 2027.
On 21 September, MeitY formally added smartphone screen protectors to its compulsory registration framework. The policy shift aims to regulate a market where roughly 98 per cent of products are currently imported, predominantly via unorganised grey-market channels from China at nominal unit costs of 2 to 3 rupees ($0.02 to $0.04).
Quality tests cited by an Axis Capital report based on Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) data revealed that five out of seven grey-market glass samples displayed zero compressive stress despite being sold as tempered glass.
With the domestic screen-protector market estimated at 500 million (50 crore) units annually, Optiemus chairman Ashok Gupta stated the firm expects to meet rising demand within six months using its current facilities and expansion pipeline. The company, which recently launched its RhinoTech brand using glass engineered by Corning, operates an annual capacity of 24 million units and plans to eventually scale production up to 100 million units.
The ICEA estimates that formalising the domestic market could allow India to capture 15 per cent of the global screen-protector trade, representing a 20,300 crore rupee ($2.4 billion) export opportunity while stimulating growth across local packaging, logistics, and retail supply chains.
