Apple may have to wait for GST rollout: Sitharaman

The Dollar Business Bureau 

Minister of Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the demands of the US tech-giant Apple regarding tax sops in order to establish a manufacturing facility in India will be looked into only after the roll out of the GST (Goods and Services Tax).

“GST will be coming soon. So, tax-related incentives demanded by Apple will have to be looked from a different angle,” the Minister told a leading news agency on the sidelines of Chemexcil event in Delhi.

Most of the demands of Apple have not been accepted by the government, she added.

The American phone maker plans to establish a manufacturing facility in Bengaluru in 2017 for assembling its products, primarily the iPhone models - 6 and 6s and has asked for several concessions with regards to taxation and importing of parts for establishing the unit. Currently, the US-based tech major has manufacturing units in Brazil and China.

In addition to tax incentives, Apple also sought exemption from the mandatory criteria of sourcing 30% of the components from the domestic market. Earlier reports suggest that the iPhone maker was persistent with its demand of shipping the parts into India solely based on the reason that it will bring in advanced technology into the country.

Apart from this, Apple also wants to launch its wholly-owned retail stores in India.

In January this year, the company had also indicated to the government that a blueprint was ready to start the manufacturing of iPhones in India, but sought fiscal sops that include waiver of customs duty on the components imported.