Apple surpasses PLI targets on 5 parameters of 6

Technology major Apple, the poster boy of India's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, has exceeded its targets on five of the six parameters that the government monitors.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

A company must achieve the minimum target on four parameters incremental production value, exports, investment, and the freight on board (FOB) value every year to be eligible for PLI, which ranges from 4 per cent to 6 per cent under the scheme for mobile devices.

The good news is that the iPhone maker's three India vendors Foxconn, Pegatron and Tata Electronics have collectively surpassed these targets. The production value of iPhones assembled by the three in 2023-24 was 194,800 crore, 45 per cent higher than committed under the PLI scheme for the year, shows data given to government agencies. In fact, the production value of iPhones manufactured in India has crossed even the PLI incentive cap.

But Apple is looking to do more. According to JP Morgan, it plans to shift nearly 25 per cent of the production of iPhones from China to India by 2025-26, more than double its initial plan. Apple has not commented on these reports.

Apple's India success story is seen in exports too. At ₹140,280 crore, the total value of 2023-24 exports was 43 per cent more than its PLI commitment. And while it has invested much more than the 2,250 crore commitment in the third year, it is assembling iPhones, whose cost of production is twice as much as the ₹15,000 minimum FoB value required under the scheme.

There are two other crucial parameters not linked to incentives which the government monitors. Of these, on employment generation, the Apple vendors crossed their target of 77,000 direct jobs in 2023-24.