Apple team to meet Govt officials on Jan 25

The Dollar Business Bureau

Notwithstanding earlier claims that US President-elect Donald Trump had exhorted Apple to relocate its manufacturing plants in the United States, a team of Apple will meet later this month several senior officials from various ministries, including from Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, to discuss setting up a manufacturing unit in India.

The US-based technology major issued a communication to the Indian government to ask for various tax-related and other incentives, as well as long-term duty exemptions, to set up its manufacturing facility in India.

Officials from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY), Revenue, Environment & Forest will also take part in the meeting on January 25.

The commerce ministry had previously clarified that it would not be able to tweak its rules for Apple, and that it will have to operate within the established framework, which is already being followed by over 40 companies including those from China. No other handset manufacturers approached the government for additional incentives.

Apple’s contract manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron and Inventec manufacture Apple devices in many countries including China and Brazil. In India, the company has partnered with Wistron to assemble iPhone devices in Bengaluru. However, it is not yet clear when the operation will begin.

The Centre provides support under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) to promote electronic manufacturing. The scheme offers financial incentives in the electronics hardware segment and also provides a subsidy for investments in special economic zones (SEZs), among other benefits.

The government had also declined the firm's request to import refurbished phones in India and sell them in the market.