The Indian government is aiming to get a firm commitment from Apple on local manufacturing before authorizing the launch of any Apple Stores in the country, a report said on Monday.
If Apple can announce a timeframe for local manufacturing plans, India on local sourcing, a senior government official told Bloomberg. The country's Finance and Commerce Ministries are said to be in talks about adjustments to accommodate Apple, which could include not just a launch without active factories but the ability to use partners like Foxconn, which is already said to be .
Current rules require foreign firms operating single-brand stores to source at least 30 percent of goods or components locally. As it stands that would be a problem for Apple, which has only one factory of its own -- a Mac facility in Ireland -- and just recently started buying chargers from India.
Exceptions can be granted, but last month Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ratified a Foreign Investment Promotion Board decision waiving that possibility. That led Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to with the Finance Ministry, hoping to reverse the situation.
Apple needs first-party stores to help make inroads into India, a place it has identified as a growth market even though the vast majority of people there can't afford an iPhone -- most phones sold in the region cost less than $150. As a result the company controls about 2 percent of Indian phone market, though it's counting on a growing middle class to improve its success.