Apple likely to open Development Centre in Telangana: Minister

Global tech giant Apple Inc is expected to make an official announcement of opening their Development Centre here in June, Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao said today.
"They (Apple) have confirmed it (opening a centre in Hyderabad) already. There will be an official announcement in June.
"Till that time, we will have to respect their choice (of not revealing details). They have chosen to make an announcement later," Rama Rao told PTI.
Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana Secretary for IT Department, confirmed that the officials of the California, US-based technology company that owns popular consumer electronic brands such as iPhone and iPad, had already met the state government officials requesting their support for some of the clearances.

"They have already identified space in a building owned by Tishman Speyer at Nanakramguda. We are also extending support to the company in terms of obtaining necessary approvals from various departments," Ranjan said.
The official, however, did not specify the amount of investment that Apple is planning to make in the centre.

Rama Rao further said the city-based IT firm Cyient (formerly Infotech Enterprises) will be laying foundation stone for its centre at Warangal tomorrow.
"Tomorrow, we have Cyient laying foundation stone for their centre in Warangal. It is expected to create about 1,000 new jobs in the next 12-18 months.

"This is first time that a company of that size is going to a tier-II city. We are also hopeful that other big behemoths will also follow," he added.
Replying to a query on the Metro Rail project, the minister said it will be operational tentatively from June.
Officials from departments of commerce, industrial policy
and promotion (DIPP), revenue, environment and forest, and electronics and information technology (DeITY) would take part in the deliberations.
In a communication to the government, the Cupertino-based technology major has asked for several tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, to enter the manufacturing sector in India.

As many as 42 companies are making mobile phones in India, including Chinese firm Huawei and Xiaomi, and no firm has approached the government for any additional incentives.
Currently, the government provides support by way of benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) to boost electronic manufacturing.
Apple's products are manufactured in six countries, including Korea, Japan and the US.
Earlier, the finance ministry in May had rejected relaxing the 30 per cent domestic sourcing norms as sought by the iPhone and iPad maker as a pre-condition of bringing in FDI to set up single-brand retail stores in the country.

The company had sought exemption on the ground that it makes state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology products for which local sourcing is not possible.
The government had also turned down the firm's proposal to import refurbished phones and sell them in India.
The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.