Apple plans to make iPhones in India’s Bengaluru from April

Apple has announced plans to make its iPhones for India in the country’s IT capital, Bengaluru in the South Indian state of Karnataka.

Media reports quoting industry sources say that Wistron, a Taiwanese OEM maker for Apple, will be setting up a facility in Peenya, Bengaluru’s industrial hub, to manufacture the iPhones.

The facility will start production from next April 2017 , according to industry sources.

Times of India reported that while the assembly operations will start, Apple was seriously looking at full manufacturing by the end of the year.

Apple chief Tim Cook, greets in Indian style at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, during his first visit to India on May 18, 2016. (AP)

While imports of phones attract 12.5 percent additional duty, through local manufacturing Apple will be able to price its products competitively in the Indian market.

Apple sold 2.5 million iPhones in India from October 2015 to September 2016, a rise of more than 50 percent over the year-ago period.

Apps development

In May, Apple announced plans to establish a Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, to make apps for iOS, the IPhone maker’s powerful mobile operating system.

The facility will also provide support and guidance on Swift™, Apple’s powerful and intuitive programming language created to build apps for iOS, Mac®, Apple TV® and Apple Watch®. Swift enables developers to write safer, more reliable code, save time and create richer app experiences.

The iOS App Design and Development Accelerator is expected to open in early 2017.

These new initiatives from Apple will help provide support to local engineering talent and accelerate growth in India’s iOS developer community.

“India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world.”