The Apple ecosystem in India has generated over one lakh new direct jobs in manufacturing in the last two years, said Minister of State, Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
Getting ready
The company had opened its first own-branded retail store in India, in Mumbai in presence of its CEO Tim Cook.
It started quietly getting ready for the store’s grand opening earlier this year when it began hiring employees for physical store locations throughout India.
Benefits to Indian consumers
With the opening of the BKC shop in India, it looks to make the iPhone more affordable for customers in India and decrease its reliance on China.
Half of total employees to be women
The second flagship store in Delhi showcases all Apple products and experiences.
Situated at Select City Walk Mall, the store is much smaller than the flagship store in Mumbai but will still still showcase all the Apple products and experiences.
The store will have 70 employees and half of these employees will be women, underlining Apple’s commitment to inclusivity.
One lakh new direct jobs in manufacturing
“Propelled by Prime Minister @narendramodi’s visionary PLI scheme @Apple ecosystem has generated over one lakh new direct jobs in manufacturing over the last 24 months,” Chandashekhar tweeted.
“About 70 per cent of these are 19-24 year old women.
These are also the workers who have just started their careers and are improving their skills by taking such jobs to support their families financially.
“Apple has created 1 lakh employment in India. Based on the discussions, we feel that they will double employment base very soon,” a government source said.
Job opportunities to women
Apple began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, and since then has worked with suppliers to assemble new iPhone models and produce a growing number of components.
Apple has three vendors in India that assemble its iPhones – Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron.
Of these three, Foxconn has employed about 30,000 women workers.
The component suppliers for Apple’s ecosystem, like Tata, Jabil, Avery, and Salcomp are also playing a role in offering jobs to many women.
Tata, Jabil, Avery, and Salcomp are also offering employment to women in the country.
Age group
Jabil has around 4,200 women workforce out of 7,000 workers.
The average age of most women is 21 years and they are mostly first-time employees.
Cook has long-term policy stability to foster investments in the country, as per the source.
Seeking government support
“He has also asked support to skill Indian manpower to suit the company’s requirement,” one of the sources said.
Apple has ramped up its India manufacturing and in FY23, the iPhone exports surged to over $5 billion from India.
Backed by Apple, India’s overall smartphone exports also crossed $10 billion for the first time in a financial year.
Apple is likely to double the employment base at its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh soon, according to government sources.
Government on board
CEO Tim Cook has sought government support to widen its components supplier base in India.
“He has also asked support to skill Indian manpower to suit the company’s requirement”, said a source.
The government has offered Apple to define the skill set, and it will support them in facilitating it.
Tata Sons to acquire Wistron’s BLR plant
It is worth highlighting that Apple manufactures several devices in India, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and AirPods.
It has also been reported that Tata Sons will acquire Taiwanese firm Wistron’s existing plant near Bengaluru, which will not only give a big boost to India’s economy but also make it the first homegrown production company for Apple devices.
Tata Sons is said to seal the deal for around Rs 5,000 crore.
