New Delhi: The Tata Group will make Apple iPhones in India for the domestic and global markets within two and a half years, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Friday, highlighting the government’s support for global brands that want to “make India their trusted manufacturing and talent partner”.
The group will manufacture the premium phones after it acquired Apple supplier Wistron’s factory in Karnataka, thereby becoming the first Indian company to make iPhones here.
Wistron, the Taiwan-based electronic manufacturer, announced Friday that its board had given approval to sell 100% of the indirect stake of Wistron InfoComm India to Tata Electronics Private Limited. The deal is tentatively valued at $125 million.
Announcing the news on X, the Information and Technology minister thanked Wistron “for its contribution” and congratulated Apple for “building a global supply chain from India with Indian companies at its helm”.
He further said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “propelled India into becoming a trusted and major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports”.
PM @narendramodi Ji's visionary PLI scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted & major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports.
Now within just two and a half years, @TataCompanies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets from… pic.twitter.com/kLryhY7pvL
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) October 27, 2023
Friday’s development reflects a notable departure from Apple’s previous strategy of selling mostly Chinese-made new devices since the company now wants to diversify its supply chain given the escalating tension between the U.S. and China.
After a meeting with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that India represented a “huge opportunity.”
Apple’s hardware manufacturing partner Foxconn – a Taiwanese company – has already begun making the iPhone 15 in its Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu, with the company aiming to narrow the gap between its India operations and its main manufacturing base in China.
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Also read: With India-made iPhones, Tamil Nadu isn’t just competing with China, but rest of India