Arun TV: Apple, Samsung Looking to Expand Production in India, Says MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Apple and Samsung Electronics are among companies interested in increasing electronics production in India, a minister said, a boon for the country's push to challenge neighboring China as a manufacturing hub.

The South Asian nation is seeking to expand its early success in smartphones to other product categories, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India's minister of state for technology, told Bloomberg TV's Rishaad Salamat and Haslinda Amin on Friday. The country is launching a $2 billion (roughly Rs. 163 crore) plan to boost the local output of laptops, servers, tablets, and other electronics.

“We've had considerable success and tailwinds in the smartphone segment and we have increased interest from the likes of Apple and Samsung in expanding and growing here,” Chandrasekhar said. “We want to essentially replay that and add to that.”

India's financial incentives for smartphone manufacturing have resulted in Apple and Samsung exporting billions of dollars of handsets from the country. The new IT hardware production-linked incentive plan has been drawn up for companies such as Dell Technologies, HP and Lenovo, Chandrasekhar said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government also wants to attract chip fabrication and chip packaging plants to India, he said. India is set to revive its effort to lure prospective chipmakers into the country as projects already disclosed, including billionaire Anil Agarwal's $19 billion (nearly Rs. 1,55,330 crore) plan, are taking time to get off the ground, Bloomberg News reported this month.

Apple is opening its first stores in India, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi. What does this mean for Apple customers in India? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.