Tata Group plans to construct one of India’s biggest Apple iPhone assembly plants to extend a hand on Apple Inc’s ambition to increase manufacturing in South Asian countries.
According to a Bloomberg report, the proposed factory will be constructed in Hosur City in Tamil Nadu state.
The Hosur factory will likely have about 200 assembly lines and is expected to have a 50,000 workforce within the span of two years.
Tata aims, the factory should be operational within 12 to 18 months.
Size of Tata Apple Factory
Tata’s new plant will intensify Apple’s efforts to localize its supply chain and variegate its operations away from China. This will also strengthen the partnership between Tata and Apple.
Tata already owns an Apple iPhone factory in Karnataka, which was acquired from Taiwanese company Wistron.
Compared to other iPhone factories worldwide, the upcoming Hosur plant is expected to be mid-size.
It can be one of the largest factories in India but will be smaller than the biggest iPhone manufacturing facilities in China.
It is said that the Wistron company acquired by Tata, has a workforce of 10,000 people, reportedly the new factory in Hosur would have a workforce of 50,000 people.
Expanding Business with Apple
Apart from iPhone assemblies, Tata is also accelerating hiring at its existing facility, where it produces iPhone enclosures or metal casings.
Tata has plans to launch 100 retail stores focused on Apple products. Apple already has opened two stores in India, one in the financial capital Mumbai, and the other in the National capital Delhi.
Tim Cook has plans to open three more Apple store in India.
As per the latest last week reports, Tata is planning to make an iPhone casing factory in Hosur twice as big.
It is expected to have 500 acres of land and over 15,000 employees to workers. The total no. of workforce can go up to 28,000.
Government Subsidies and Production
According to a report, Tata and Apple are likely to request government subsidies for the new plant as it is expected to start production, as previous state-backed financial incentives are set to cessation.
Production-linked subsidies introduced by the government have buoyed Apple’s key suppliers to increase their operations in India.
It has resulted in more than $7 billion worth of iPhones assembled in India in the previous fiscal year, making up about 7% of the device’s global production.