Tata Takes Over Wistron’s India Operations To Manufacture iPhones For Global Markets

Tata Group will start manufacturing Apple iPhones in India to export to the global market within two-and-a-half years.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s PLI scheme and said, “In just two and a half years, Tata Companies will start manufacturing iPhones in India for the domestic and global markets.”

“Congratulations to the Tata team for taking over Wistron operations,” he added.

Additionally, Chandrasekhar assured that the Indian government will support “the growth of fully global Indian electronics companies, which in turn will support global electronics brands that want to make India their trusted manufacturing and talent partner and realize the Prime Minister’s goal of making India a global electronics powerhouse.”

In particular, the news about Tata’s purchase of Wistron in India spread last year. It is in line with Apple’s aim to shift about 18 percent of its global iPhone production to India by 2025.

In July, Bloomberg had also reported that the move would add to Apple’s efforts to diversify its product base outside of China and build technology manufacturing in India amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

With that in mind, the India-assembled iPhones with 15 models were available in India immediately upon launch last September. These models manufactured at Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu factory are exported to various regions around the world.

Apple has also focused much more on the Indian market and now also has two official Apple stores in the country – Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in New Delhi.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also had significant things to say about the Indian market. “India is an incredibly exciting market. That is an important focus for us. I was just there, and the dynamism, the vibrancy of the market is incredible,” Cook said in May.