Made in India! Apple starts local production of iPhone 11

Local manufacturing would help the iPhone maker avoid import duties of 20 percent in India which is currently the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China.

US technology giant Apple has started manufacturing the iPhone 11, its latest flagship smartphone in India, the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, tweeted on Friday. The move comes amidst the deteriorating trade ties between the US and China where the iPhone maker has a major presence.

"Significant boost to Make in India! Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country," Goyal wrote. 

Apple, which is immensely popular in the Western markets, loses share in the Indian smartphone market because of high import duties and high prices. Local manufacturing would help the iPhone maker avoid import duties of 20 percent in India which is currently the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China.

According to earlier reports, Taiwan-based Foxconn which is the top assembler of Apple iPhones is planning to invest USD1 billion into its Chennai plant to expand its operations in the country while Pegatron Corporation, the second-largest iPhone assembler is also preparing to enter India with a manufacturing plant in Chennai, joining the wave of foreign tech investments in the country.

The Indian government has rolled out a new INR 40,000 crore Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) to boost the domestic electronics manufacturing landscape and position India as a global production hub.