Apple’s Taiwan manufacturer Wistron Corp is said to be on the verge of closing a land deal in Bengaluru and is also is likely to invest about $157 million to develop the site, according to a latest report from Reuters.
It is rumored earlier that Wistron’s who currently assembles Apple’s low-cost iPhone SE in India, has been scouting for some land in Bengaluru, and now reports coming claim that some of the Wistron’s global executives and its India’s head met with the industries minister of Karnataka earlier this month and a deal on the land lease may be struck in a few weeks.
Apple, Wistron and Karnataka government body that deals with investment proposals are yet to comment on the ongoing development. While the part of the land bought by Wistron will be used to set up new assembly lines for Apple. On the other hand, on a different note, another source claim that Apple is likely to start assembling its iPhone 6s models in India through Wistron soon in order to cost cut and diversify its production base. Since 6s is still one of the top sellers for Apple, it makes sense.
Since ICT has recently won federal approval to import machinery from China into India, it is now the right time set up fresh assembly lines for iPhones. With local assembly taking shape, it could lead to save import taxes, price phones cheaper and potentially widen its customer base for Apple in India. It is already known that Apple has been in talks with the Indian government tax breaks and incentives to expand operations in the country. Indian Government didn’t make any such exceptions for Apple as of now but said it is ready to welcome Apple in India.