Manufacturing in India is going to be the top talking point when Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook meets
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, it is learnt. There may not
be any announcement just yet, but a source in the government confirmed
that the PM is likely to tell Cook that India would want Apple to
manufacture in India.
The discussion between the two may also revolve around the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's stand that Apple cannot just
import and sell refurbished iPhones in India without setting up a
manufacturing facility in the country. The government is also expected
to convey to Cook a decision that it has taken on waiving the local
sourcing conditions for Apple so that it can open its fully-owned
branded retail stores in the country.
Make in India has been a signature campaign of the NDA government and
getting an assurance from Cook on manufacturing in India will mean much
to the government, which is set to complete two years in office next
week.
"Apple is welcome to start manufacturing in India," said an official
close to the development, when asked about the focus of the government's
engagement with the tech giant.
Earlier, when Modi had met Cook at the Apple headquarters in the United
States, the two had discussed the possibilities of manufacturing in
India. Recently, Apple's proposal to import and sell refurbished iPhones
in the country was rejected by the government. The third phase of
Cook's visit, when he flies to New Delhi on Friday, is being watched
keenly. Besides meeting Modi, he's set to interact with key Cabinet
ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Information
Technology and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Commerce
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
On Friday afternoon, Cook will meet Bharti Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. ForApple CEO,
Bharti is a distribution partner in India. Earlier in Mumbai, Cook met
Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and top executives of Vodafone and Tata
Consultancy Services.
In the second leg of his visit in Hyderabad on Thursday, before flying
to New Delhi with a halt at Kanpur to watch an Indian Premier League
cricket match, Cook met political leaders of Telangana, including Chief
Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and inaugurated the company's tech
development centre at Waverock IT Park. With this, the Hyderabad centre
has become the largest tech development facility outside the US for
Apple.
Apple is looking to develop India as a market that will offset declining
iPhone sales in markets such as the US and China. In the quarter ended
March, iPhone sales fell 16 per cent globally, while sales in India grew
56 per cent.
The company's largest global manufacturing partner Foxconn has already
signed a joint venture with the Adani Group to manufacture Apple
products in the country.
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