Apple’s Taiwanese manufacturing partner, Wistron is setting up a plant in Bengaluru which will focus on assembling iPhones.
A source close to the development said that while this is good news for the Make in India initiative, Apple and the Indian government have still not found a common ground on “the repatriation of long-term profits from local sales and exports.”
Naturally, Karnataka’s government welcomed the tech giant into the state’s capital, Bengaluru, signaling that the manufacturing plant will assemble iPhones in India.
“Apple’s intentions to manufacture in Bengaluru will foster a cutting-edge technology ecosystem and supply chain development in the state, which is critical for India to compete globally,” the Karnataka government said in a statement.
Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge told the media that he believes Apple will “tentatively begin manufacturing iPhones in the state by the end of April, or beginning of May.”
Another person close to the development confirmed that no agreement or memorandum of understanding has so far been finalised with the Karnataka government.
Joyce Chou, a spokeswoman for Wistron, said its Bengaluru plant is expected to begin producing smartphones some time in the first half of 2017. She declined to comment on whether it would be a captive iPhone assembly site.
