Tata Group will start making Apple iPhones in India for domestic and global markets within two and a half years, announced Electronics and Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The development underscores India's growing production prowess and reflects a significant departure from Apple's previous strategy of selling mostly Chinese-made new devices to frenzied customers across the world.
The group has acquired the operations of Apple supplier Wistron Corp which announced the development in a board meeting for about $125 million, according to a company statement. The Union Minister also thanked Wistron for "building a global supply chain from India with Indian companies at its helm".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's financial incentives to boost local manufacturing and Apple's strategy to look beyond China amid a Washington-Beijing trade war have helped India become increasingly important to the iPhone maker's diversification drive.
"PM Modi Ji's visionary PLI scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted and major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports," Chandrasekhar said. The PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme - which aims at boosting domestic manufacturing, creating jobs and supporting exports - was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors, including large-scale electronic manufacturing, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, specialty steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones and pharmaceuticals with an outlay of £19.7 billion.
The takeover of the Wistron Corp factory in Karnataka by Tata group has capped about a year of negotiations. The company already makes iPhone chassis, or the metal backbone of the device, at its factory spread over hundreds of acres in Tamil Nadu.