India has greenlit a long-delayed manufacturing partnership between Vivo and Dixon Technologies, clearing final regulatory approval for a joint venture first announced in late 2024. The venture assigns majority control to Dixon whilst allowing Vivo access to manufacturing capabilities and the ability to produce electronics for multiple brands. The approval arrives as India has become a significant global smartphone production hub, with Apple currently leading export volumes whilst Chinese brands dominate the domestic market yet remain underrepresented in manufacturing exports.

The joint venture structure reflects a broader strategy by Chinese smartphone makers to establish local manufacturing through Indian partnerships, prompted by both India's government investment rules requiring additional scrutiny of Chinese capital and recent tax and regulatory investigations faced by companies including Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi. Industry analysts characterise the majority-Indian-owned model as mutually advantageous—providing Vivo with greater policy alignment and operational stability whilst offering Dixon expanded capacity to increase local value addition and export potential, potentially unlocking significant growth if Chinese brands begin exporting smartphones from India at scales comparable to Apple.