Tata Group is in talks with a Taiwanese supplier to Apple Inc. to establish a joint venture for iPhone manufacturing in India, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
If the news is confirmed, Tata will become the first domestic Indian company to assemble iPhones.
Apple launched production in India in 2017, and currently Taiwanese companies such as Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group are the main assemblers.
India has long been trying to challenge China in electronics manufacturing, and a local company could be a huge boost in that effort. This is especially the case as Beijing has to deal with renewed COVID-19 lockdowns and rising geopolitical tensions with the US, which has no qualms about putting pressure on brands over purely political issues.
The deal could see India begin to manufacture iPhones simultaneously with China by next year, thereby reducing the current two month gap between the countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's financial incentives to make technology in India, combined with its market of 1.4 billion people, have also prompted key Apple contract manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron to expand in the country. However, the workforce in India is having a hard time adapting, as iPhone assembly is a complex task requiring company quality standards, while there has also been widespread dissatisfaction with working conditions.
In the past, Apple has even had to suspend new orders from Wistron's India sites after "lapses" in labor practices led to unrest.