Tata's Rs 6K cr plant for iPhones likely to start operations in November

Hosur factory to be second assembly plant for Tata

US-based tech major Apple Inc is set to get its fourth iPhone assembly plant in India, which is being built by its key contract manufacturer Tata Electronics and is likely to start production in November, sources privy to the development said.
 

The factory in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur will be the second iPhone assembly plant for Tata Electronics following its acquisition of Taiwanese EMS player Wistron’s unit, which was in the works for two years.
 

According to sources, preparations are in full swing to launch iPhones from the 250 acres plant, which already houses a components factory set up by Tata Electronics three years ago.
 

Tatas manufacture enclosures for Apple’s iPhones at this plant. The enclosures produced at the facility are already used for some iPhone models assembled in India, with a few being exported to China.
 

Tata Electronics is expected to invest around Rs 6,000 crore in the assembly plant and has pumped a similar amount into the component factory that supplies to Apple at the same location.
 

Emails sent to Apple and Tata Electronics did not elicit any response from the two companies.
 

The combined facilities, according to sources, will employ over 50,000 blue-collar workers, mostly women. The iPhone assembly plant alone will add 35,000-40,000 employees, making it one of Apple’s largest in India, second only to Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu facility.
 

Equipment and production lines are being stress-tested to meet the high demand expected at this new facility, the sources added.

For Apple, which came to India just four years ago, the fourth plant is crucial as it plans to more than double its initial target of shifting 10 per cent of global iPhone capacity by FY26 to 20-25 per cent with the help of production-linked incentive (PLI) commitments.
 

The initial target was set for its three contract manufacturers — Hon Hai Technology (Foxconn), Wistron (now with Tatas), and Pegatron. These vendors have already exceeded their PLI commitments in the first three years, with cumulative production values and exports surpassing targets.
 

For instance, the cumulative production value of these vendors until FY24 (for three years of PLI) stood at around Rs 1.9 trillion, well above their PLI commitment of Rs 1.3 trillion. Similarly, their cumulative exports at Rs 1.4 trillion in FY24 exceeded their target of Rs 0.97 trillion.
 

Domestic sales also hit around Rs 67,000 crore in FY24, significantly higher than the expectation.
 

The Tata’s tryst with Apple began with producing enclosures for iPhones before it took over Wistron’s facility, which was its first iPhone assembly facility in Karnataka’s Kolar. There are also reports that they are negotiating with Pegatron to acquire its plant though there is no official confirmation. Tata Electronics operates these facilities under a greenfield venture, Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL).
 

Apple, however, has not disclosed specific production numbers for the new facility. Meanwhile, Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu plant, which employs up to 45,000 people, with women comprising 75 per cent of the workforce, exported 95 per cent of its production value between April and July 2024.