India Plans To Compete With China For Apple's Business

India wants to boost production of tablets and laptops to cut imports!

India is all set to boost the financial incentives for manufacturers that make tablets and laptops in the country, wooing companies such as Apple Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. as part of its bid to challenge China on the production base level.

The federal technology ministry has floated the revamped program to electronics industry executives for consultation, including payments that could exceed a half a billion dollars per company, people familiar with the matter said.

India wants to boost production of tablets and laptops to cut imports and make the country an export hub in the longer term.

The effort is aimed at companies such as Apple, Dell, HP Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc. to increase or begin local production, the people said.

In particular, the country wants to persuade Apple, which already assembles iPhones in India via its Taiwanese suppliers, to make iPads locally.

The plan offers as much as 45 billion rupees ($549 million) per manufacturer, according to a government document seen by Bloomberg News.

To qualify, foreign companies would need to invest 7 billion rupees in India over five years on top of outlays they have made through March 2021.

The incentives would totally depend on local procurement of components and could go as high as the equivalent of about 6 per cent of the sales of final finished products.