India pushes Apple to deepen component manufacturing before wider expansion

MUMBAI: Apple may be the star, but India wants the supporting cast ready before the next act. The government is pushing Apple and its suppliers to deepen component and sub-assembly manufacturing in the country, with a stronger local supply chain seen as the first step before the tech giant expands production to products such as MacBooks, iPads and Apple Watches.

According to people familiar with the matter cited by Moneycontrol, the immediate focus is not on assembling these products in India, but on building a supplier ecosystem capable of serving both the domestic market and Apple’s global manufacturing network.

That shift is already under way. Components made in India are increasingly being shipped to production hubs in China and Vietnam, where they are incorporated into finished Apple products. Some mechanical components and enclosures are already being manufactured locally and exported, according to a government official.

The longer-term expectation is for Apple to broaden its product manufacturing footprint in India. However, the timing of any move into final assembly will depend on factors including Indian demand, Apple’s global sourcing strategy and its efforts to diversify manufacturing beyond China.

Mechanical components are a particular priority. These include enclosures, casings and other parts that house and protect assemblies such as motherboards and processors.

Apple’s supplier network in India is already producing and exporting a range of components to China and Vietnam. These include printed circuit board assemblies, mechanical parts, housings, flexible PCB assemblies, conductive graphite buttons, wires and packaging materials.

The companies involved include Foxconn, Tata Electronics, Tata-owned Pegatron, Motherson, Salcomp, Jabil, TRIL Bangalore, Aequs and Yuzhan Technology.

The government’s push is also being supported by the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), which aims to increase local value addition and build an electronics component industry capable of supplying both Indian manufacturers and global supply chains.

The scheme targets areas including mechanical components, enclosures, batteries, chargers, cables and other sub-assemblies. Several companies being considered for expansion are already part of Apple’s supplier network in India and are exporting components to overseas manufacturing centres.

The strategy could therefore give India a bigger role in Apple’s global supply chain even before more Apple products begin rolling off Indian assembly lines. While the iPhone remains at the centre of Apple’s manufacturing presence in the country, the government’s latest push suggests the bigger ambition is to make India a source of the parts behind a much wider Apple ecosystem.