NEW DELHI: Amid falling exports, mobile phones have emerged as a bright spot, with shipments out of the country trebling to nearly $2.5 billion (over Rs 17,000 crore) during April-November. Over half the cellphones were shipped to the UAE.Data accessed by TOI pointed to a spurt in mobile exports after several assembly units came up in the country. The list of exporters includes Apple , which is shipping iPhones, as well as other prominent brands such as OnePlus and homegrown ones such as Lava and Karbonn.Industry executives said the recent trade tension between the US and China has also resulted in many global companies de-risking their manufacturing operations and shifting a part of production to India. A relatively cheaper cost of labour and easier relations with the US means that there is less fear of a sudden trade backlash.Also, with the Indian government’s focus on ‘Make in India’ and the recent cuts in corporate tax rates for new establishments, companies are hopeful that manufacturing here will only go up, giving hope to counter larger hubs such as China and Vietnam. The only irritant here has been the reduction in export incentives from 4% to 2%, though companies expect some breather from the government.“The ‘Make in India’ and export effort has started in the right earnest with overseas shipments growing by over 800% in 2018-19 over 2017-18 to reach Rs 11,500 crore.The momentum is strong and we will end up with exports between Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore in 2019-20,” said Pankaj Mahindroo, chairman of India Cellular & Electronics Association. “It is a long-haul, though the build-up of the manufacturing eco system and fresh investments towards production will strengthen the Make in India product line-up.”Taiwanese Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest supplier of phones across the world, is said to have committed a fresh $1 billion investment for India as it scales up manufacturing of the iPhone maker at its Chennai plant. The company makes devices such as iPhone 7 (by Taiwan’s Wistron in Bangalore) and XR in India and is exporting some variants to markets across the world.One Plus, the premium phone maker in China’s BBK group (that also sells Vivo, Oppo and RealMe), is also exporting 5G phones made at its Noida factory (owned by Oppo) to North America. This comes even as the company strengthens the 5G-enabled testing for global networks as its R&D centre in Hyderabad.Hari Om Rai, chairman of homegrown Lava International, says building blocks for a larger global manufacturing are being set up in India.