Apple to start manufacturing iPhone 6, 6s soon in India - The Mobile Indian

• By: Nirupam Manik, The Mobile Indian, New Delhi

  Last updated : Friday, March 24, 2017 - 17:23

A new media reports suggest that Apple has decided to go ahead with the production despite being turned down by Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) regarding various duty exemptions.

Apple is expected to start manufacturing iPhones in India is not a new story, however, the company will not start assembling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s instead of previously rumoured iPhone SE. A new media reports suggest that Apple has decided to go ahead with the production despite being turned down by Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) regarding various duty exemptions.

 

To brief it out, Apple seeked tax exemptions on the procurement of components for assembling and repair units for a tenure of 15 years, however, just recently Nirmala Sitharaman (Union Minister of Commerce and Industry) denied Apple's request for the same stating that it will not be feasible and fair to other handset manufacturers in India which have been following the norm without any extra privileges. Currently, smartphone manufacturers under Make-in-India campaign enjoy Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) and the Electronics Development Fund (EDF) which includes a bunch of benefits.

 

Interestingly, Apple will reportedly begin with the production process in near future, probably by May-end. Further, Apple iPhone SE, which was previously rumoured to go into production first has now been pushed back for at least 2-3 months. The Cupertino-based giant is expected to hit the production process in its Bengaluru faculty which is currently handled by Apple's manufacturing partner, Wistron.

 

In a report from Digit, Apple spokesperson said - "We've been working hard to develop our operations in India. We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we've had with the government about further expanding our local operations."

 

Apple manufacturing iPhones in India will surely result in a dip in pricing even without any special tax exemptions. The current customs duty imposed on smartphones is about 12.5 percent which, if removed, will dip the price by Rs 10,000. Also, we can expect Apple to start selling Make-in-India iPhones sometime by end of this year.