Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has asked tech giant Apple to consider opening an R&D facility in India as the country offers great business opportunities.

The Minister, who met Apple Head – Compliance (Europe, Middle East, India & Africa) region, John Reynolds here on Friday invited the Silicon Valley-headquartered company to be part of the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ programmes.

“Apple is a very effective brand in India and personally I requested them to consider opening an R&D centre in India,” Prasad told reporters here after the meeting.

“I was very happy to learn that though Apple does not have a very powerful presence yet, in the fiscal 2013-14 they sold products worth $730 million in India. I am sure in 2014-15 it must have crossed more than a billion-dollar mark. From my side I welcome them to explore India in a big way,” the Minister added. According to sources from the Government, the meeting between the two sides was fruitful and the Minister gave an assurance to Apple that additional incentives would be given to the company, if it wants to start a manufacturing plant in India.

“It was conveyed to him (John Reynolds) that in the event they propose to expand their operations here, including manufacturing, then enough encouraging response will come not only from the Centre by all its incentive schemes, but the State Governments too,” a senior Government official said.

Many Chief Ministers would come forward to offer incentives because of the brand name of Apple, the official said.

Reynolds said he got ‘some fascinating information about the country’ during the meeting.

Apple plans to grow its business in India and is re-looking at distribution landscape and redefining customer segments.

According to CyberMedia Research, the iPhone maker has emerged as the largest 4G LTE device vendor in India with a market share of 45 per cent in October-December.

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