Dell, HP and Apple supplier Foxconn apply to make laptops in India under US$2.1 billion incentive plan
- Some 32 companies have applied for the incentives, which offer cash back of almost 5 per cent on factory prices of finished products
- The government is trying to replicate the success of smartphone production incentives from 2020, which helped Apple produce 7 per cent of iPhones in the country
Indian Premier Narendra Modi’s US$2.1 billion financial incentive plan – a bid to boost local production of technology hardware such as laptops, personal computers, tablets and servers – has received an overwhelming industry response, Tech Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Wednesday.
Under the plan, companies are entitled to cash back of almost 5 per cent of factory prices of finished products. Sourcing components locally will help manufacturers win more financial benefits.
Some 32 companies, including units of home-grown contract manufacturers such as Optiemus Electronics and Dixon Technologies India, had applied for the incentives before the application process closed at midnight on August 30.
Modi’s administration expects companies to make an incremental investment of 24.3 billion rupees (US$294 million) and produce an additional output worth 3.35 trillion rupees under the six-year plan.
“India is emerging as a very trusted supply chain partner and also a value chain partner because it has good capabilities in design,” Vaishnaw told reporters at a briefing in New Delhi.
