Apple to expand production in India, in touch with government: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Apple plans to expand its manufacturing operations in India and is in touch with government officials, even as the iPhone maker seeks a larger share of the Indian market.

“Apple has started making phones out of Bengaluru, they’re in touch with IT secretary for expanding in India,” said IT and electronics minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Tuesday while laying out achievements of the ministry in three years.

“They want to bring their ecosystem of products here and make all products,” IT secretary Aruna Sundararajan later told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

The Cupertino-based company has started making iPhone SE model in India, but in small numbers as part of a trial run, at a plant run by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in Bengaluru. While Apple plans to ship the India-assembled iPhones to consumers within this month, reports suggest that first set of phones have already hit retail shelves in India.

While locally made or assembled phones are supposed to be cheaper compared to imports, Apple has kept the price of the entry level iPhone SE steady at Rs 27,200.