India’s push for Apple MacBook production involves a better incentive scheme
Now that the production of iPhones in India is in full swing, the government wants Apple to move the production of its high-end laptops called MacBook and iPad. The government is reportedly planning to offer an incentive scheme to Apple to motivate it. The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) for IT hardware may soon be increased from the current outlay of Rs 7,350 crore to around Rs 20,000 crore to attract manufacturers, especially Apple to begin producing more devices in India.
According to a report by Times of India, the IT ministry is keen on increasing hardware production in India. And since Apple is one of the leading brands, the government is hopeful that an increased outlay in the PLI scheme will encourage Apple to move the production of its entire ecosystem to India. India’s ambition to lure Apple to local production comes at a time when the iPhone maker is looking for alternatives due to disturbances in China. Apple is likely looking at a China-plus-one strategy for the global procurement of products.
Citing sources in the IT Ministry, the report quoted that the local production of iPhone models saw phenomenal success with Apple’s top manufacturers – Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron — all making “smartphones worth billions of dollars in the country.” The next step will be to onboard Apple for the production of MacBook and other products such as iPad in India, the report said.
To increase the outlay to about Rs 20,000 crore, a proposal has already been sent to the IT Ministry and the “matter” is now with the finance and other related ministries. The new outlay will increase the incentive support from 1-4 percent in February 2021 over the year to an average of 5 percent.
The report corroborates previous predictions of renowned analysts about Apple’s manufacturing strategy. Ming-Chi Kuo had previously said that Apple is eyeing other Asian countries for the production of its devices because it wants to minimise its reliance on China. A report recently said Apple was talking to multiple suppliers to boost the production of AirPods and Beats headphones in India.
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