INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
supplier to US tech group Apple, is to invest Rs 2,000 crore in India to make mobile chargers and other smartphone components from March
2020, technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.Salcomp has reached an agreement to take over a facility, formerly owned by
Nokia, in Chennai and will begin operations at the site by March, Mr Prasad told a news conference.Salcomp, a major supplier of chargers to
Apple for its iPhones, has reached an agreement to take over the entire facility of Nokia handsets lying closed for the past so many years,
Mr Prasad said."I can tell you apart from chargers and other equipment it will lead to a diversified product portfolio," Mr Prasad said,
adding that Salcomp would invest Rs 2,000 crore at the site over the next five years.The move is expected to generate jobs for about 10,000
people, he said.Nokia, in a statement, confirmed that it had reached an agreement with Salcomp for the sale of the facility in
Sriperumbudur, Chennai.The widening of Apple's supplier base in India, the world's second-biggest smartphone market, is a boost to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" drive.India has been trying to take advantage of the trade war between Beijing and Washington,
which has disrupted supply chains and forced companies to look for alternative manufacturing locations.The government cut corporate tax
rates in September to woo manufacturers and revive private investment
It is also making plans to attract companies such as Apple, Foxconn and Wistron to expand locally, Reuters reported previously.Apple last
month started selling its iPhone XR model assembled in India by the local unit of Foxconn
It also assembles the iPhone 7 model in India through Wistron's local unit in the tech hub of Bengaluru.On Monday, Mr Prasad, showing a
locally-assembled iPhone XR, said he expected Apple to expand its manufacturing operations further in India.Apple's Indian-made phones
will also be exported, Mr Prasad said, adding that exports of mobile phones and components from the country would be worth $1.6 billion each
in the financial year to end-March 2020.Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on
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