The Tata group is set to initiate iPhone manufacturing in India for both the domestic and global markets, as announced by Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on October 27. This development follows Wistron Corporation’s decision to sell a plant in the southern part of India to the Tata conglomerate.
Chandrasekhar congratulated the Tata team for taking over Wistron’s operations in his statement. He further revealed that the Tata group is preparing to produce iPhones in India for worldwide distribution within just two and a half years.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which has already positioned India as a trusted and significant hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports. He emphasized the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s (MeitY) full support for the growth of global Indian electronics companies, which will, in turn, facilitate global electronic brands’ desire to make India their reliable manufacturing and talent partner. All these efforts align with Prime Minister Modi’s goal of establishing India as a global electronics powerhouse.
Chandrasekhar also extended his appreciation to Wistron for its contribution and commended Apple’s efforts in building a global supply chain in India with Indian companies at the forefront.
Wistron’s board granted approval for its subsidiary SMS InfoComm (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Wistron Hong Kong Limited to sign a share purchase agreement with Tata Electronics Private Ltd (TEPL) for the sale of its 100% indirect stake in Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Pvt Ltd (WMMI). The transaction is estimated at approximately $125 million.
Apple has already been manufacturing certain iPhone models in India and plans to significantly increase production to around $40 billion (approximately 3.32 lakh crore) in the next 4-5 years. The tech giant began iPhone assembly in India in 2017 with the budget iPhone SE, using Wistron’s facility in Karnataka. Currently, there are three contract manufacturers of iPhones in India — Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron. They produce iPhone 13, 14, and 14 Plus models in the country. Additionally, Apple is producing the iPhone 15 at the Foxconn plant near Chennai, marking the first time a made-in-India iPhone is available from the launch stage. Earlier, iPhones in India were imported for the first few months after launch before local production commenced in the country. This year, the company initiated iPhone 15 production from the very first day.
While the Foxconn plant near Chennai is working on producing the iPhone 15 Plus, it is not currently set to produce the iPhone Pro series in India.