Tech giant Apple considers investing Rs219b in India

NEW YORK: US tech giant Apple Inc is considering an investment of around Rs1,000 crore (PKR219.5 billion) in India soon. The iPhone maker has informed the government that it plans to establish an online selling platform as well as open three Apple retail stores across major cities in India over the next two to three years.

"There have been meetings with company executives. The first store is likely to come up in Mumbai followed by Delhi and a third location is yet undecided," a government official told the Economic Times.

This development follows the Union Cabinet's decision on Wednesday to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for several sectors, including single brand retail, to attract foreign investors, and boost economic growth, promote Make in India and generate employment along the way.

The company in a statement on Thursday welcomed the government's decision and said that it planned to establish its first company-owned retail store apart from setting up its own online store in India.

"We look forward to one day welcoming customers to India's first Apple retail store. It will take us some time to get our plans underway and we'll have more to announce at a future date," Apple said.

"We love our customers in India and we're eager to serve them online and in-store with the same experience and care that Apple customers around the world enjoy," Apple said in its statement.

If things go as per the plan, you will be able to buy its iPhone, iPads and Apple Mac computers through direct online retailing soon. Currently, the company sells its products through franchisee stores and via online retail platforms such as Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart Online Services Pvt.