Apple iPhone 16 being launched globally from Indian factories, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Railways and Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said Apple's latest iPhone 16 is being produced and launched globally from the Indian manufacturing plants. The 'Make in India' new iPhones will be made available in the country on September 20, and will be exported to other nations as well. "Apple's latest iPhone 16 being produced and launched globally from Indian factories," said Minister Vaishnaw.

"PM Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative is now driving the creation of iconic products for the world," the minister tweeted over X social media platform. IPhone exports continue to clock around $1 billion each month thanks to the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

According to the government, in the ecosystem of Apple alone, more than 2 lakh people have got employment and there is good amount of growth. The exports of iPhones from India surged to $12.1 billion in 2023-24 from $6.27 billion in 2022-23. Further, the value of its India operations touched an all-time high at 23.5 billion dollars in the last fiscal, FY24. At the same time, the iPhone manufacturing factories in the country are likely to hire upwards of 10,000 people directly during the peak festival period. Apple is looking to produce over 50 million iPhones in India annually, as the brand looks to gradually shift some of the production out of China. With two plants running for Apple, Tata Electronics is the single largest job creator in the Apple ecosystem, after Foxconn and Pegatron.

While tech giants like Apple have been continuing to shift their iPhone manufacturing to India amid political stability and friendly government policies of the country, India has captured almost half of the lost market from China and Vietnam at 40.5 per cent in the last fiscal year. The country's mobile phone exports touched nearly $16 billion in FY24 from $11 billion in FY23. In all, the electronic manufacturing in the country is expected to touch almost $250 billion in the next five years.