Apple Inc wants India to account for about 5%-7% of its production to 25%, the trade minister said at a conference on Monday, as the iPhone maker continues to move its manufacturing away from China.
Pitching India as a competitive manufacturing destination, Piyush Goyal said, “Apple, another success story.” “They are already at around 5-7% of their manufacturing in India. If I am not mistaken, they are aiming to go up to 25% of their manufacturing. They launched the most recent models from India, which Made in India.”
Mr. Goyal did not say by when Apple wants to meet the target. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cupertino, California-based Apple has bet big on India since it started iPhone assembly in the country through Wistron and later Foxconn in 2017, in line with the Indian government’s push for local manufacturing.
Foxconn plans to quadruple the workforce at its iPhone factory in India in two years, sources told Reuters last year.
India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnav tweeted on Monday that Apple’s exports from India had reached $1 billion in December.
China’s COVID-related lockdown and restrictions, and rising trade and geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington, have affected Apple’s plans to move production elsewhere.
JP Morgan analysts last year estimated that a quarter of all Apple products would be made outside China by 2025, up from 5% currently.