Tata Group Closes In On Deal To Become First Indian iPhone Maker:-India’s largest conglomerate Tata Group is close to an agreement to acquire Apple supplier Wistron’s factory in Karnataka, which would make it the first Indian iPhone maker, Bloomberg reported. Tata’s potential takeover of Wistron’s facility is said to be valued at over $600 million. Tata already makes the metal backbone of the Indian iPhone at its factory in Tamil Nadu, Bloomberg said.
Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate, is close to an agreement to acquire an Apple
Inc. supplier’s factory as soon as August, marking the first time a local company would move into the
assembly of Indian iPhones, according to people familiar with the matter.
A takeover of the Wistron Corp. factory in southern Karnataka state, potentially valued at more than $600 million, would cap about a year of negotiations, said the people, asking not to be named as the matter is private. The facility employs more than 10,000 workers, who assemble the latest Indian iPhone 14 model.
Wistron has committed to shipping Indian iPhones worth at least $1.8 billion from the factory in the fiscal year through March 2024 to win state-backed financial incentives, the people said. It also planned to triple the plant’s workforce by next year. Tata is set to honor those commitments as Wistron exits the iPhone business in India.
Spokespersons for Tata, Wistron, and Apple declined to comment.
The addition of an Indian iPhone is likely to add momentum to Apple’s efforts to diversify its product base beyond China and build up technology manufacturing in the South Asian nation. Wistron exported nearly $500 million in Indian iPhones from India in the three months ended June 30, and Apple’s other key.
Taiwanese suppliers, Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp have also ramped up locally.
India has made progress in domestic manufacturing since Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up government programs with lucrative financial incentives to expand production and employment. Apple
has stepped up efforts to diversify away from China in the aftermath of the country’s Covid lockdowns
and rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.
An Indian company making Indian iPhones could prove a significant boost for the Mod’s efforts to challenge
China’s status as the factory of the world. It may help persuade other global electronics brands to consider production in India to reduce their reliance on China.
The 15-year-old Tata Group sells everything from salt to tech services. Over the past few years, the
the group has sought to make inroads into electronics production and e-commerce, both relatively new
territories for the Tata family.
It already makes the Indian iPhone chassis, or the metal backbone of the device, at its factory, spread over hundreds of acres of land in Tamil Nadu state. The Tatas also foster chipmaking ambitions, Chairman N
Chandrasekaran has previously said.
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