Apple Executives to Visit India to Discuss Local Manufacturing Plans

Apple executives will attend a high-profile meeting with Indian officials later this month in order to discuss the company's plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the country.

Apple is said to be seeking a number of tax and other incentives at the meeting, set to take place on January 25, and could potentially ask for long-term duty exemptions. According to PTI, Indian representatives from a number of government departments will attend, including officials from commerce, industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), revenue, environment and forest, electronics, and IT.

Last month it emerged that Apple was in talks with India to explore the possibility of making products locally, as well as set up a distribution center, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered his government to exempt foreign retailers for three years from a requirement to locally source 30 percent of goods solid in their stores.

Apple sent a letter to India's federal government in December, outlining its manufacturing plans and asking for financial incentives, and this month's meeting would appear to be the next step in the negotiations.

In September 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Prime Minister Modi to discuss various matters and Cook reportedly responded positively to Modi's invitation to open a manufacturing base in India. Foxconn was previously reported to be looking at the possibility of an expansion into India to produce iPhones and iPads, but Cook's outspoken interest in the possibility was Apple's first public interest in the expansion.

Apple products are currently manufactured in six countries, including China, Korea, Japan, and the United States.