Tatas to make iPhone in India, becomes India's first homegrown iphone maker after Taiwan's wistron
New Delhi (PTI): Tata Group is set to become India's first homegrown iPhone maker after Taiwan's Wistron Group agreed to sell a plant in Bengaluru to India's largest conglomerate.
Wistron's board approved the sale of Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Private Ltd to Tata Electronics for USD 125 million, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer said in a statement on Friday. The unit operates an iPhone assembly plant near Bengaluru.
The takeover of the Wistron Corp factory concludes about a year of negotiations. The facility employs more than 10,000 workers, who assemble the latest iPhone 14 model.
"Upon confirmation and signature of the relevant agreements by both parties, the deal will proceed to obtain the necessary approvals," Wistron said.
Apple's iPhones are mainly assembled by Taiwanese manufacturing giants like Pegatron Corp and Foxconn Technology Group.
Tata Electronics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, the promoter of the salt-to-software conglomerate. The group is seeking to make inroads into electronics production and e-commerce. Tata Electronics already operates a manufacturing facility in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.
Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to the X to congratulate Tata for taking over Wistron operations.
The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted and major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports.
"Now, within just two and a half years, @TataCompanies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets from India," he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Thank you @Wistron for your contributions, and great going for Apple in building a global supply chain from India with Indian companies at its helm."
PM @narendramodi Ji's visionary PLI scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted & major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports.
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) October 27, 2023
Now within just two and a half years, @TataCompanies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets from… pic.twitter.com/kLryhY7pvL
He went on to state that his ministry stands fully in support of the growth of global Indian electronics companies to make India their trusted manufacturing and talent partner.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is looking beyond China amid a trade war between the US and Beijing.
In May this year, Apple's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said India is an "incredibly exciting market" and a "major focus" for the company, as the iPhone maker highlighted that business in India "set a quarterly record, grew very strong, double-digits year-over-year".
The company charted an ambitious retail expansion in India in April this year when it launched two retail outlets in Mumbai and Delhi during Cook's first trip to the country in seven years.
"Wistron Corp held a Board of Directors meeting today and granted approval for its subsidiaries, SMS InfoComm (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Wistron Hong Kong Ltd to sign the Share Purchase Agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) for the sale of its 100 per cent indirect stake in Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Pvt Ltd (WMMI)," Wistron announced in the statement.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
