India on Tuesday said it is approving incentives to 16 companies, including top Apple suppliers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, under a federal scheme to boost domestic smartphone production.
India’s smartphone business has turned into a showpiece for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign. The $6.65 billion stimulus plan is part of the central government’s objective to make the country an export and manufacturing hub.
Businesses will have to take the status of being included in the scheme. The federal government did not disclose what funding would come from Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, which are yet to begin India operations.
Two sources previously told Reuters that the three companies plan to do a total business of about $900 million in India over the next five years to learn from the plan.
Samsung, which runs the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing plant on the outskirts of New Delhi, also received approval, India’s technology ministry said in a press release.
The statement said that 5 Indian companies including Lava and Micromax also got the confirmation. The statement also said authorized companies are expected to provide smartphones and parts worth more than 10.5 trillion rupees ($143.05 billion).
The scheme provides production-linked incentives, which include 4% to 6% money value of additional gross sales of products made domestically over the 5 years, with 2019-2020 as the bottom 12 months.