Apple iPhone maker Wistron sets up big warehouse in Hoskote – Times of India

BENGALURU: Apple’s Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron has set up a new warehouse in Hoskote. Together with the two assembling facilities it has in Peenya in Bengaluru and Narasapura in Kolar, the company now has a substantial presence in and around Bengaluru.
The warehouse is expected to employ close to 3,000 people, taking Wistron’s overall expected headcount in Bengaluru to close to 10,000 employees, sources told TOI.
An email to Apple did not elicit a response till the time of going to the press. Wistron India MD Sudipto Gupta said he has no comments to offer.
Wistron has lined up Rs 3,000 crore in investment in Narasapura on a 43-acre piece of land. Around Rs 1,000 crore has already been pumped into the facility.
Prakash Sangam, founder and principal of US-based Tantra Analyst, said Covid and recent geopolitical issues have triggered reorchestration of the global supply chain.
“For many major companies looking to actively diversify away from China, India has become an attractive destination. This action is a great example of such a move. It is incumbent on the government to provide a favourable regulatory environment and infrastructure to make the best of the situation,” he said.
Three of Apple’s contract manufacturers — Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron — have big plans in India. Reuters had reported that Foxconn plans to invest up to $1 billion to expand its factory in Sriperumbudur where the iPhone XR is made. Pegatron’s board is said to have approved a $150 million investment to set up manufacturing facilities in India.
Salcomp, a major supplier of chargers to Apple, has taken over the closed facility of Nokia in a SEZ near Chennai and plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore over the next 5 years.
Tarun Pathak, associate director in Counterpoint Research, said, Apple has surely got momentum in India and is likely to ramp up its India manufacturing ambitions to satisfy not just the local demand but also exports.
“In such a scenario, the role of its EMS partners is crucial and Wistron is one among them. Bangalore can be a very strategic location as it can provide easy access to talent in the technology sector, something Apple will be keen to leverage as well. Additionally, the other component players will be now attracted towards India looking at the scale and expansion of key anchor companies like Samsung, Foxconn, Wistron etc.”
The government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) announced earlier this year is encouraging substantial mobile and related investments. The PLI scheme provides an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over the base year 2019-20) of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years after the base year.
Recently, Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said global and Indian firms have committed to invest close to Rs 11 lakh crore in the coming five years, out of which Rs 7 lakh crore plus will be only for exports.