Tata Group set to become India’s first homegrown iPhone maker as Wistron approves sale
Tata Group to manufacture India's first homegrown iPhone after buying Wistron plant near Bengaluru. In recent months, the Tata Group has also accelerated hiring in its factory in Hosur – where it produces iPhone components – and announced plans to launch 100 Apple stores in the country.
The Tata Group will soon make India’s first homegrown iPhone after Wistron Corp approved the sale of an assembly plant near Bengaluru. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said manufacture would start within two and a half years. The airline-to-software conglomerate has been in talks with the Taiwanese iPhone maker for more than a year to take over the plant.
“Within just two and a half years, Tata Companies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets. Congratulations to the Tata team for taking over Wistron operations. Thank you Wistron for your contributions, and great going for Apple in building a global supply chain from India with Indian companies at its helm,” he tweeted.
A statement by the company on Friday confirmed board approval for the sale of Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Private Ltd. to Tata for $125 million. The companies will seek regulatory approvals after the deal is confirmed by both parties.
Earlier reports citing anonymous sources had valued the Tata-Wistron deal at more than $600 million.
According to a Bloomberg report from July this year, Tata is also set to honour several manufacturing and hiring commitments made by Wistron as part of their agreement. This includes shipping iPhones worth at least $1.8 billion from the factory in the fiscal year through March 2024 to win state-backed financial incentives. Wistron had also indicated plans to triple its workforce in the plant by next year. The facility currently employs more than 10,000 workers who assemble the latest iPhone 14 model.
ALSO READ: India Mobile Congress 2023: PM Modi says 'world is using Made in India mobile….'
The developments were incidentally announced mere hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India's technological advances during the India Mobile Congress.
“Recently, Google has announced the manufacturing of its Pixel phone in India. Samsung's Fold 5 mobile phone and Apple's iPhone 15 are being manufactured in India. We are proud that the world is using Made in India mobile phones now,” he had said during the event.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Business NewsTechnologyNewsTata Group set to become India’s first homegrown iPhone maker as Wistron approves sale
First Published:27 Oct 2023, 04:50 PM IST
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