After the success of iPhone production in India, the government is set to sweeten the deal to kickstart the coveted manufacturing of MacBooks and iPads in the country, looking to broad-base the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware to nearly Rs 20,000 crore against the existing outlay of Rs 7,350 crore which failed to receive much response from the industry.
Top sources in the IT ministry said the government wants Apple’s manufacturing eco-system to grow by leaps and bounds in the country at a time when the American electronics giant looks at a China-plus-one strategy when it comes to global procurement of products. The IT ministry, which is the nodal ministry for boosting electronics manufacturing in the country, has already sent a proposal for enhancement of the scheme, and the matter is now in the hands of the finance and some other related ministries. Apple has been cagey about getting products beyond iPhones to be manufactured in India as the company tries to strike a balance with China, which is not only its biggest production base but also an equally strong sales market. Also, the company feels handicapped by the absence of a strong supplier base in the country, as getting its component makers from China to India has not been easy following the growing tensions between the two countries.
While companies have been pushing the government to ease the checks for allowing Chinese investments into India, the permissions and approvals still take time as the Centre does not want to hand over the control to entities from the neighbouring country. “Joint venture is one route that we are considering, provided that Indian entities have a say and control,” the source said.
The government feels that getting Apple and other top sellers such as HP and Dell broad-base their India sourcing will be critical to get scale and the status of a ‘global manufacturing hub’.