Apple Skips India PLI Scheme For IT Hardware Even As HP, Lenovo, Dell Apply

Apple Inc. has given a miss to an incentive plan to manufacture laptops and tablets in India, even as several global and Indian companies have lined up to do so.

Dell Technologies, HP Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Apple’s biggest contract manufacturer Foxconn Group Corp. are among the 32 companies that want to make IT hardware in India under a production-linked incentive scheme, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a briefing on Wednesday. 

The number of applicants had risen to 38 by 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, PTI reported. The window for submitting applications closed at midnight.

“All of them are extremely enthusiastic about making in India, and are absolutely geared up for execution and developing the supply chain locally,” the minister said. “We are likely to see an expected incremental production of Rs 3,35,000 crore over the tenure of the PLI scheme. The expected incremental investment is likely to be Rs 2,430 crore in the first one to one-and-a-half years of the PLI cycle. Expected direct employment is 75,000.”

The PLI scheme for IT hardware, with an outlay of Rs 17,000 crore, was notified in May this year to boost local manufacturing of laptops, servers and peripherals. A special focus is on making laptops and tablets locally. On Aug. 1, the government initially restricted the import of laptops, tablets, and similar devices with immediate effect but deferred the rollout by three months till Oct. 31. The curbs are aimed at boosting local production and addressing trade imbalance.

“India is emerging as a trusted supply chain partner and value-added partner (for global IT hardware firms),” Vaishnaw said at Wednesday’s briefing. “Companies are happy to come to India for manufacturing and design.”

To be sure, Apple has well-entrenched manufacturing operations in India by way of Foxconn. In fact, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer has started production of the upcoming iPhone 15 smartphone at its plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, according to a Bloomberg report. Other Apple suppliers in India—Pegatron Corp. and a Wistron Corp. factory that is being acquired by the Tata Group—will also soon assemble the device.

The Cupertino, California-based company is seen moving nearly a fifth of its global iPhone production to India in the next two years, according to BofA Securities, underscoring the growing importance of Asia’s third largest economy in the shifting sands that is the global supply chain for electronics manufacturing.

“Apple’s increased production in India will lead to more of its supply chain moving to the country,” said Shilpi Jain, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. “While it’s still early days for Apple in India, I believe the government has a very clear ambition to move up the value chain in electronics manufacturing. And Apple’s push certainly helps.”

Plans are also afoot to make Airpods in India, under a PLI scheme for wearables, but Apple seems not too keen on moving production of its Mac laptops and iPads to India.