As per news reports, the Tata Group – India’s largest conglomerate, is close acquiring Apple’s Supplier – Wistron’s Factory, by this August, marking the first time a local company would move into the assembly of iPhones. The takeover of Wistron Corp. factory in Karnataka (potentially valued at more than $600 million and employing over 10,000 workers who assemble the latest iPhone 14 model) would cap about a year of negotiations.

Wistron has committed to ship iPhones worth at least $1.8 billion from the factory in the fiscal year through March 2024 to win state-backed financial incentives, as per reports. It also planned to triple the plant’s workforce by next year. Tata is set to honor those commitments as Wistron exits the iPhone business in India.

This is expected to add momentum to Apple’s effort to expand its production away from China amid the rising tensions between China and the US. Besides Wistron, Apple’s key supplier list in India includes Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp.

India has made much progress in domestic manufacturing since PM Modi set up government programs with lucrative financial incentives to expand production and employment. An Indian company making iPhones could prove a significant boost for the Modi’s efforts to challenge China’s status as the factory of the world. It may help persuade other global electronics brands to consider production in India to reduce their reliance on China.

As per the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), Apple exported iPhones worth Rs 10,000 crore from India in May, becoming the first brand to achieve this milestone in India. In the first two months of 2023-24 (FY24) alone, iPhone exports from India stand at over Rs 20,000 crore ($2.4 billion). In the same period last year, India exported Apple phones worth Rs 9,066 crore.

The 155-year-old Tata Group – the pride of the nation and the community – provides everything, from salt to tech services. It has successfully been making inroads into electronics production and e-commerce. It already makes iPhone chassis, or the metal backbone of the device, at its factory spread over hundreds of acres, in Tamil Nadu, and are fostering chipmaking ambitions in the future.