Bengaluru may get iPhone plant

Bengaluru: Apple is all set to start manufacturing its iconic iPhones in India at Bengaluru, as part of efforts to cash in on the world’s second largest smartphone market in a big way.

Local manufacturing is expected to help Apple price its phones more competitively in India as it currently attracts 12.5 per cent additional duty on imports.

The phones would be manufactured by Wistron, a Taiwanese OEM maker for Apple, according to top government sources. “Wistron has plans for setting up iPhone manufacturing plant for domestic market in Peenya,” top government sources familiar with the developments said.

Another senior government official said Bengaluru has the talent required for quality high technology products and that was the reason for selecting the city.

The official added that Foxconn, which also manufactures iPhones for Apple, had come with similar plans to the city some time back. This would be Apple’s second big project for Bengaluru. In May, Apple had announced setting up a design and development accelerator in the City to grow the iOS developer community. The announc-ement was made as part of the visit of Apple CEO Tim Cook to India.

The US-based company has been in discussions with Indian government seeking incentives to set up a manufacturing unit in the country.

A group of senior officials from ministries will early next month deliberate on the incentives sought by Apple to set up a manufacturing unit in the country.