The expert committee headed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary has certified that electronics product manufacturer Apple meets the cutting edge technology specifications and may be exempted from domestic sourcing norms if it brings in foreign direct investment for retail.
“The Commerce Minister and the Finance Minister will now decide if Apple should be given exemption,” a DIPP official said.
Other requests that the committee is likely to take up is from Chinese companies Xiaomi and LeEco, the official added. The Centre had recently announced that certain items that use cutting edge technology will be exempt from the 30 per cent domestic sourcing requirement if they bring in FDI in single-brand retail.
The committee also includes representatives from NITI Aayog and the Ministry concerned.