New Delhi: US tech giant Apple may double or triple its exports as well as investments in India in the next few years as the company opened a second store in the big mobile phone market, a minister said.
Apple primarily assembles iPhones in India through contract manufacturers, but has plans to expand to iPads and AirPods.
“I am confident that this Apple-India partnership has enormous scope for investment, growth, exports and jobs – to double and triple in the years to come,” Deputy Minister of Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Reuters.
His remarks came after a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the capital New Delhi on Wednesday.
Cook, who also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Apple was “committed to investing and growing across the country”.
He inaugurated an Apple Store in New Delhi on Thursday, two days after opening its first outlet in India’s commercial capital Mumbai.
“We are here only to see Tim Cook,” said Android phone user Manika Mehta, 32, who queued up at the Delhi store in support of her husband, who is an Apple fan.
About 500 people gathered for Cook’s brief appearance, in which he spoke with fans and took selfies, as in Mumbai.
Cook’s visit received wide media coverage and he was feted like a Bollywood star, with some people trying to touch his feet in the traditional gesture of respect, while others asked for his autograph.
Apple is trying to make India a major manufacturing base to reduce its dependence on China. Its products, including the iPhone, are being assembled in India by Taiwanese contract electronics makers Foxconn and Wistron Corp.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clarence Fernandez)
Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically from Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.
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