Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday (April 19) met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital ahead of the inauguration of the tech giant's first official store in the city, news agency ANI reported. Earlier this week, Apple inaugurated its first official store in India in Mumbai. Cook is likely to meet Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as well.
"Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India's future - from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we're committed to growing and investing across the country," Cook tweeted.
After meeting Cook, PM Modi tweeted: An absolute delight to meet you, @tim_cook ! Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India."
This development comes amid Apple's big retail push in India, highlighting the Cupertino, California-headquartered tech giant's growing ambitions for the country. Apple has been targeting India as its growth market and manufacturing base.
This development also coincides with India's iPhone exports jumping almost four times to cross $5 billion or more than Rs 40,000 crore in FY 2023, in the wake of increased local production of Apple iPhone models, a recent report by ET Telecom said. India has become a smartphone export hub for countries including Germany, Russia, the UK, France, Italy, the Middle East and Japan.
After Mumbai, India's capital Delhi is gearing up for its first official Apple Store launch on April 20 (Thursday). The Apple Store in Delhi was previewed on Wednesday, similar to the one in Mumbai, a day ahead of the inauguration. While Apple BKC is inspired by the iconic Kaali Peeli taxi art unique to Mumbai, Apple Saket, according to the initial teaser seems to be inspired by Delhi’s heritage gates.
Seventy Apple team members will be part of the Apple Saket store who come from a combined 18 states in India and collectively speak more than 15 local languages. Like all Apple facilities, Apple Saket and Apple’s operations in India run on 100 per cent renewable energy and are carbon neutral.