New Delhi: Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL), a Tata Group subsidiary, will start manufacturing Apple’s iPhones in India for domestic and global markets in the next two and a half years.
The TEPL has entered into an agreement with the iPhone assembly partner Winstron Corporation for purchase of 100% indirect stake in Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Private Limited (WMMI) for an estimated $125 million. The takeover of the Wistron Corp factory in Karnataka by India’s largest conglomerate has capped about a year of negotiations.
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Currently, Foxconn Technology Group, Wistron Corporation and Pegatron Corporation have been manufacturing the Apple’s iPhone for domestic and global consumers at their India plants. However, once the deal is signed and all regulatory clearances are accomplished, TEPL will start manufacturing iPhones in India at Wistron’s Karnataka plant.
Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the development demonstrates India’s growing prowess in production of high precision electronic devises. Earlier, Apple preferred selling mostly Chinese-made new devices to frenzied customers across the world. With this, the group will become India’s first homegrown iPhone maker.
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“@GoI_MeitY stands fully in support in growth of global indian electronics companies that will in turn support global electronic brands that want to make India their trusted manufacturing and talent partner and to realize PM’s goal of making India a global electronics power,” Chandrasekhar posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The iPhone devices made in India have been acquiring popularity across the world for quality. It is evidently clear from the growing export of the devices. Earlier, in the months from April to December 2022, Apple’s contract manufacturers exported more than US$2.5 billion worth of iPhones from India, which was nearly twice the previous fiscal year’s total.
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The Foxconn Technology Group and Wistron Corp each shipped more than US$1 billion of Apple’s iPhones abroad in the first nine months of FY 2022-23, while Pegatron Corp., the third contract manufacturer for Apple present in India, was on track to export around US$500 million worth of gadgets.
Earlier this year, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that Apple exported $5 billion (roughly ₹ 41,200 crore) worth of goods from India in 2022, while stating that the company plans to produce 25 per cent of global units in the country within the next four to five years.
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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 ₹ 1.97 lakh crore.
