Tata and Vedanta offer India lessons in industrial policy

A $125 million deal by Tata Group will one day become a case study for Indian industrial policy. The conglomerate has a high chance of success through buying its way into iPhone manufacturing, offering rival empires like mining group Vedanta Ltd. a lesson on the better path toward industrial expansion.

Wistron Corp., a Taipei-based maker of computers, servers and smartphones, is slowly exiting its business of assembling Apple Inc.’s marquee product. Two years ago, it sold a Chinese unit that makes iPhones to Luxshare Precision Industry Co. for 3.35 billion yuan ($457 million). On Oct. 27, it announced the sale of Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Private Ltd., known as WMMI, to Tata Electronics Private Ltd.