India wants to not miss out on the opportunity of the growing demand for Apple products across the world. Apple currently manufactures iPhones locally. But in the future, the company could be making other products, such as iPads and Macs, in India as well. The government is reportedly looking to kickstart the manufacturing of iPads and MacBooks in India by expanding the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware to about Rs 20,000 crore against the existing outlay of Rs 7,530 crore.
According to a TNN report, the government wants the production of Apple ecosystem products to grow in India when the Cupertino giant is looking beyond China to expand its manufacturing hub. As per the report, a senior government official told TOI that India has tasted success with the manufacturing of iPhones, as the iPhone manufacturers, including Wistron, Foxconn, and Pegatron, are now making smartphones which are worth billions of dollars.
The next step for India to tap into the Apple ecosystem is to ask the company to manufacture iPads and MacBooks in the country. Both iPads and MacBooks have a healthy demand in India as well as the global markets. Thus, the PLI scheme can be a potential interest for Apple and its manufacturers, who are looking for an alternative to China. It is worth noting that Apple just assembles in India, and the components are still sourced from foreign countries. Apple has faced problems in importing components from China to India to make its iPhones as there's no supplier base for components in India.
The government official told the publication that the earlier scheme wasn't sufficient to meet the disability that the companies would have if they manufactured in India. In February 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the scheme, which promised a 1-4% incentive to the companies being a part of the PLI scheme for IT hardware. However, the government now wants to expand it to Rs 20,000 crore with an average incentive of about 5%. This might push the companies to invest more in India.
