Dell, HP and Apple supplier Foxconn apply to make laptops in India under US$2.1 billion incentive plan

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.

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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.

Companies could begin production under the plan as soon as early next year, he added.

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Apple opens its first retail store in India

Apple opens its first retail store in India

Apple has yet to apply for incentives to locally assemble its MacBook laptops and iPad tablets, government officials said.

All of the applicants might not win the approvals for the financial stimulus. The smartphone incentives have shown that such programmes usually work well with a few companies that can increase production rapidly, and win bigger cash returns.

The IT hardware manufacturing drive also seeks to penalise companies if production lags behind the set thresholds, by deducting as much as 10 per cent from the subsidies.

To push companies to begin local assembly of IT hardware, India announced plans to impose a new license requirement for tech imports starting November 1, spanning everything from laptops and tablets to servers and components for data centres. US tech companies have protested the move.