This report examines India's printed circuit board (PCB) trade, focusing on the first five months of FY2026-27 (April to August 2026). It details how India's PCB trade balance turned from a deficit to a surplus, with exports of $2.29 billion against imports of $1.87 billion. The document breaks down performance by three PCB categories: bare, mounted, and populated PCBs, and analyzes trade flows…
This document is a trade analysis report on India's printed circuit board (PCB) sector, focusing on the first five months of FY2026-27 (April to August 2026). It is intended for industry analysts, policymakers, and electronics manufacturers seeking a precise account of recent shifts in India's PCB trade balance and its underlying causes.
The report opens with an executive summary stating that India's PCB trade has turned from a deficit to a surplus for the first time, with exports of $2.29 billion against imports of $1.87 billion. It highlights that this reversal is driven entirely by two assembly-stage categories, mounted and populated PCBs, while bare PCBs remain heavily import-dependent.
The introduction and objective sections define the three PCB categories tracked throughout the report: bare PCBs (HS 85340000), mounted PCBs (HS 84733030), and populated PCBs (HS 85177910). It outlines five key questions the report aims to answer, including what changed in the trade balance, which categories and partners are responsible, and what structural constraints remain.
The backdrop section places PCBs within India's broader electronics trade, noting that PCBs account for about 4 percent of total electronics exports in FY2025-26. It then details the trade flip, showing export value grew roughly sixfold between FY2024-25 and FY2025-26, while imports grew more slowly rather than collapsing.
Category-wise performance data shows mounted PCBs exported $1,462.7 million against $623.4 million in imports, and populated PCBs exported $746.4 million against $287.3 million in imports. Bare PCBs, however, exported only $78.6 million against $954.5 million in imports, maintaining a roughly twelve-to-one import-to-export ratio.
Country-wise trade analysis reveals that China and Singapore together account for nearly 90 percent of India's PCB exports. Singapore overtook China as India's largest export market, driven by mounted PCB exports of $1.27 billion, while China remains dominant on the import side, particularly for bare and populated PCBs.