iPhone-maker Apple Inc is reportedly in talks with the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments for a possible location for its manufacturing facility. A delegation from the US-based firm held meetings with Nara Lokesh, IT and Panchayat Raj Minister of Andhra Pradesh, last week.
“A delegation of six Apple employees held a meeting with the Minister on Friday,” a source in the Andhra Pradesh Government told BusinessLine . Though what transpired between the two sides is not clear, it is indicated that the iPhone-maker has been offered a couple of locations, including the Tirupati phone cluster.
The delegation also met the top officials of the Telangana government too. “It seems they are in talks with several State governments to identify a suitable location for the phone manufacturing facility,” a government official said. The Telangana government had briefed them various incentives that it offered to electronic hardware manufacturers in the State. “They have not made any commitment,” he added.
Meanwhile, Telangana Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy’s statement that the State had missed an opportunity in having the company setting up a facility created a flutter. “A State (Andhra Pradesh) had grabbed them using a helicopter,” the Minister had said.
When approached for comment on the development, an Apple spokesperson cited a January statement from the company. “We’ve been working hard to develop our operations in India and are proud to deliver the best products and services in the world to our customers here. We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we’ve had with government about further expanding our local operations,” he said.
The phone major has a huge presence in Hyderabad. It opened a development centre for Maps for Apple that houses 4,000 employees in May 2016. The Waverock facility at Gachibowli focuses on development of Maps for Apple products. The firm also bought a Hyderabad-based machine learning start-up TupleJump last year.