Wistron, which is one of Apple’s main contract manufacturers in India, is reportedly looking to scale up its India operations. According to a report by The New Indian Express, the company will be kicking off production at the Narasapura plant in Kolar district, Karnataka, in the coming days. The scale-up is expected to generate around 10,000 jobs.
The company already has another facility in Peenya in Bengaluru where it assembles iPhones and this is its second facility. The Wistron plant in Narasapura, around 65 kilometres from the state capital, received Rs 1,600 crore in September, up from a planned Rs 900 crore. The plant was already in function with a preliminary 2,000 workers but Wistron has been slowly shifting its focus to India from China, says the report.
The chief secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Gaurav Gupta confirmed the recruitment and said, “We are pleased to note that the recruitment process has already started. They will start production soon.” Wistron has not confirmed the plan. “We were told that the company will be hiring in a phased manner. At present, walk-in interviews are being conducted at the company site in Kolar for ITI and diploma graduates,’’ an official said.
Most of these workers will be from Karnataka as the state policy requires 70% of the labour to be local. From the consumer’s perspective, this development should translate to cheaper iPhones in India in the future along with the Government’s new PLI scheme.
Partnering with Wistron, Apple already assembles its older versions of iPhones like the iPhone 7, and the older iPhone SE in India. It recently also started making the iPhone XR and plans are in place to make the iPhone SE 2020 in India as well.
Another of Apple's iPhone contract manufacturer, Foxconn, is also eyeing India for re-location of its production lines from China, a move that may generate more than 55,000 jobs in the country and boost the Make in India initiative.
Apple has reportedly started manufacturing its current flagship iPhone 11 series at Foxconn’s plant near Chennai in India.
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