Apple And Samsung Interested In Increasing Manufacturing In India: Report

Tech giants Apple and Samsung are interested in increasing electronics production in India, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said.

The Union Cabinet has recently approved PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware. ( Image Source :Krishna SinhaChaudhury/ABP Live )

Tech giants Apple and Samsung are interested in increasing electronics production in India, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said, according to a report by Bloomberg. This comes amid Apple's recent big retail push in India, as it aims to shift from its production dependency on China.

The South Asian nation is seeking to expand its early success in smartphones to other product categories, Chandrasekhar was quoted as saying by Bloomberg TV. India is launching a $2 billion plan to give a push to the local output of laptops, servers, tablets and other electronics. Earlier his week, the Union Cabinet approved Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI), PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware that is likely to give a push to domestic manufacturing of laptops, PCs and ultra-small devices.

“We’ve had considerable success and tailwinds in the smartphone segment and we have increased interest from the likes of Apple and Samsung in expanding and growing here,” Chandrasekhar said.

India crossed the landmark of $10 billion in mobile phone exports and $105 billion in overall electronics manufacturing in 2022, say media reports. Now, its aim is to replicate the success of promoting domestic smartphone and telecom equipment production in the manufacturing of devices such as laptops, PCs and other advanced computers.

Meanwhile, with Apple's biggest supplier and contract manufacturer Foxconn investing $500 million in a manufacturing facility in the Indian state of Telangana, the tech giant is likely to start making only AirPods here and may not manufacture iPads and Mac personal computers (PCs) in the country.

There have been rumours that the tech giant is likely to begin locally producing all its major products in India. It has recently opened two official stores in the country; Samsung also opened its biggest exclusive store in north India in New Delhi's Connaught Place in January this year.