Tatas to make iPhone in India

Tata Group is set to become India’s first homegrown iPhone maker after Taiwan’s Wistron Group agreed to sell a plant in Bengaluru to India's largest conglomerate. Wistron’s board approved the sale of WistronInfoComm Manufacturing (India) Private Ltd to Tata Electronics for $125 million, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer said in a statement on Friday.

The unit operates an iPhone assembly plant near Bengaluru. The takeover of the Wistron Corp factory concludes about a year of negotiations. The facility employs more than 10,000 workers, who assemble the latest iPhone 14 model.

“Upon confirmation and signature of the relevant agreements by both parties, the deal will proceed to obtain the necessary approvals,”Wistron said. Apple’s iPhones are mainly assembled by Taiwanese manufacturing giants like Pegatron Corp and Foxconn Technology Group. Tata Electronics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, the promoter of the salt-to-software conglomerate. The group is seeking to make inroads into electronics production and e-commerce. Tata Electronics already operates a manufacturing facility in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.

Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to the X to congratulate Tata for taking over Wistron operations. The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted and major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports.