With companies looking to hedge their manufacturing bets and move away from China, Tata Group is trying to steal a march, and is reportedly in talks with Apple’s Taiwanese supplier, Wistron, to assemble the iPhone in India. e exact nature of any agreement is unclear, which might see Tata Group acquire a stake in Wistron India or form a JV to ramp up iPhone assembly in the country.
Tata chief Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s focus on “hi-tech manufacturing” dovetails with India’s own ambitions to become a manufacturing base much like China. Tata-owned consumer electronics chain Croma may also feature in the long term, with their private label products currently manufactured in India, Thailand, China, and Turkey.
Wistron India’s fortunes, which are sagging and loss-making, could be bolstered by Tata’s manufacturing, EV, and chipmaking ambitions.
