The government is considering certain concessions sought by US technology major Apple Inc for setting up a unit to assemble its flagship iPhones in India.

DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek said on sidelines of the India Economic Summit here on Thursday that “there are already 90 phone companies manufacturing handsets in the country. They (Apple) are asking for certain exemptions. The government is considering them.” His reply came to a question on Apple’s proposals with the government on assembling its products and the status thereof.

Apple is seeking multiple changes in the country’s policy and taxation laws to assemble its phones in India. In March this year, the then commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed the Rajya Sabha that the government had not accepted “most of the demands” of iPhone maker Apple, which wants to set up a manufacturing unit in India.

Apple India has sought several tax sops, including concessions like duty exemption on manufacturing and repair units, components, capital equipment and consumables for smartphone manufacturing and service/repair for a period of 15 years.
The Cupertino-based technology company had also written to the department of revenue and department of electronics and information technology (DeITy).

The most significant of Apple’s demands is to get a relaxation in the mandated 30 per cent local sourcing of components. It also wants reduction in customs duties on completely knocked down (CKD) and semi-knocked-down units of devices that are to be assembled in India.

The company is also seeking approval to directly sell their range of products from the current reseller model through a single brand retail store.

Recently, the government allowed Chinese mobile phone company Oppo to open a single-brand retail store, a similar approval sought by Apple.

Abhishek also stressed that with 90 manufacturers already manufacturing here, the Make in India programme is going quite strong. Apple Inc has never disclosed its wish list that it has sent to the Indian government.

On another FDI issue, Abhisek said US-based electric car major Tesla has not applied for cutting edge technology concessions and they have to abide by the sourcing norms of the country. As per current FDI policy, which includes a clause to boost local industry, a foreign company that wants to set up single brand retail store would have to mandatorily source 30 per cent of goods from India.

On the proposed upcoming industrial policy, Abhishek said the ministry is holding consultations with the stakeholders. The ministry had constituted a task force chaired by V Kamakoti of IIT Madras to explore possibilities to leverage AI for development across various fields. This committee is likely to take some time to submit its report, he said.

“Smart manufacturing being one of the major initiatives in industrial policy, we would like to give them enough time. The policy is going to be a trend setter and guiding stone for the next 10-15 years,” he said on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum event. “It is a very important policy. So we would like to give it enough time. The committee will be giving its report by November, I think,” Abhishek said.