Apple has reached an agreement with the government of the Indian state of Karnataka to start manufacturing iPhones in Bangalore, The Times of India newspaper reports. The Karnataka government announced that it had approved Apple's proposal to "begin initial manufacturing operations" in a press release.
Apple's desire to open a manufacturing facility in India began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began promoting his "Made in India" initiative. Apple's manufacturing partner Wistron will have iPhones made in a new plant, reportedly starting with the next iPhone 8. In the past couple of months, Apple and Indian officials began to approach positions to increase the possibilities of manufacturing products locally. Last month, Apple finally settled on a Karnataka-based facility over offers from other Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. During the negotiations, there was talk that Apple would be exempted from a number of taxes and would also benefit from a number of other incentives, including the possibility of long-term duty exemptions.
The Indian government also claimed to be in talks with Apple for other possible collaborations, but declined to reveal anything that might be about it. The move is an important step for Apple as it aims to consolidate its position in the Asian market in order to access the Indian customer base. This market is an important piece of the economic cake in Asia for the company digested by Tim Cook, who also sees himself in the diatribe of also having to keep an eye on the factories that Donald Trump wants the companies to have in the United States and so on. avoid possible sanctions or extraordinary tariffs.