iPhone: From local batches to exports

In May 2017, Apple confirmed that it had begun assembling a small number of iPhone SE handsets in Bengaluru, with local sales to follow that month. The early production run was modest: an entry into Indian assembly before the country became a large export base for the same brand. [1]

A government review published in October 2025 reported that Apple’s iPhone exports from India had reached ₹1,10,989 crore in calendar 2024, up 42% from the previous year. That was an iPhone-specific export figure. It should not be confused with India’s total mobile-phone exports, or with a financial year running from April to March. [4]

An incentive and a changing supplier base

The expansion acquired a distinct policy instrument in 2020. The Union government’s production-linked incentive scheme offered eligible manufacturers 4–6% of incremental sales of specified goods made in India. When approvals were announced that October, the electronics ministry identified Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron as three participating contract manufacturers for Apple. [2]

The scheme rewarded production beyond a baseline, rather than paying simply for an investment announcement. It gave the Modi government a concrete role in supporting expansion. The assembly work nevertheless depended on Apple placing orders, suppliers financing and operating factories, and workers producing phones to the required standard. Eligibility for an incentive was one part of that commercial relationship. [2] [3]

Indian ownership also became more prominent. Tata Electronics completed its acquisition of Wistron’s India operations in March 2024, according to Tata’s subsequent account. On 24 January 2025, it announced the acquisition of a controlling 60% stake in Pegatron Technology India. These were changes to the ownership of established manufacturing operations, adding an Indian group to a supply chain previously dominated by overseas assemblers. [3]

What an exported phone contains

The full value of a finished phone leaving India is not the value created entirely within India. Imported components remain part of that export price. Domestic value addition concerns the production, services and inputs contributed locally; it requires a different calculation from adding up shipments.

In April 2026, the electronics ministry cited an industry estimate of 18–20% domestic value addition across electronics manufacturing. That broad figure was not an audited local-content percentage for iPhones. Neither the government’s all-electronics employment figures nor all-mobile export totals can establish an Apple-specific outcome. [5]

The factory expansion also brought scrutiny of recruitment. In July 2024, the National Human Rights Commission sought reports after allegations that married women were excluded from assembly jobs at Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur plant. Its notice recorded the company’s denial and made its concerns conditional on the reports being true. Export growth and equal access to those factory jobs were separate questions. [6]

The government’s next push targeted components. In October 2025, it approved the first seven projects under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme. These were approvals for further investment, intended to bring more of the production behind a finished device into the country where it was assembled. [4]