Tata Sons, last week took its board to familiarise them with the outlet at Tata Electronics that is expected to be the primary chipset-making vehicle. The firm's entire board, including Ajay Piramal and Venu Srinivasan were taken to Hosur and Bengaluru to take a stock of the facilities, said a report by The Economic Times (ET). The entire Tata Sons' brass was hosted in a board meeting where the company chairperson N Chandrasekaran held talks on the future growth plans, the ET report added, citing sources familiar with the development. The company's board of directors who were present include Leo Puri, Harish Manwani, Vijay SIngh, Srinivasan, Anita George, Saurabh Agarwal, Bhaskar Bhat and Piramal.
Earlier this week, a report by news agency Bloomberg said Tata Group is close to signing an agreement with key Apple supplier Wistron to acquire its factory in Karnataka, marking the first Indian company to enter into iPhone assembly space. The potential deal could materialise as soon as next month. It was earlier reported that the Taiwanese electronics company is preparing to wind down its operations in India after a successful business stint spanning over fifteen years.
Also read: Gujarat Exploring Semiconductor Plant With Foxconn, Days After Vedanta JV Falls Apart
According to the report, the negotiation for the takeover of the Wistron Corp. factory in Karnataka, valued at $600 million, has been going on for over a year. The facility employs more than 10,000 workers and assembles the latest iPhone 14 model.
Wistron, as per the report, committed to ship at least $1.8 billion worth of iPhones from the factory in the fiscal year 2023-24 to secure state-backed financial incentives. It also had plans to triple the plant’s workforce by next year. India's largest conglomerate, Tata is set to honour those commitments.
Also read: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE With Snapdragon 888 Quietly Launched In India. Price, Specs, More
Earlier this year, it was reported that Wistron exported nearly $500 million worth of iPhones from India in the three months ended June 30. Apple’s other key Taiwanese suppliers, Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp., have also ramped up production in India. According to the report, the introduction of an Indian-made iPhone is expected to provide a significant push to Apple's endeavors of diversifying its product manufacturing beyond China and strengthening its technology manufacturing presence in India.