HUGE: Ravi Shankar Prasad receives 'assembled in India' Apple iPhone XR, eyes expansion

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday made a huge announcement in a news conference. The Information Technology Minister said that electronics behemoth Apple Inc would expand its operations in India and the iPhone maker’s supplier Salcomp would make components at a plant near Chennai. He said that Apple has manufactured its first iPhone in India and India has become a manufacturing hub of Apple.

Salcomp will invest 20 billion rupees ($278.67 million) over the next five years to make chargers and other components at the plant and the move will also create 10,000 jobs, Prasad said. Apple’s phones made in India will also be exported, he said, adding that exports of mobile phones and components from the country would be worth $1.6 billion each this year.

Salcomp, one of Apple’s major component suppliers, has bought Nokia’s defunct handset factory near Chennai for close to $30 million (Rs 215 crore). Apple is gradually shifting away from China amid the Sino-US trade war. The American company sources chargers from Salcomp, which is the largest player globally and which has made India a huge base over the past few years.