Apple’s India operations to create 600,000 jobs by fiscal year-end

Apple’s growing presence in India is set to create up to 600,000 jobs by the end of this fiscal year, marking a significant expansion in its operations as the company diversifies production away from China. According to estimates and data submitted to the government, Apple’s workforce in India will include 200,000 direct jobs by March, with a notable 70% of these positions filled by women.

The company’s three contract manufacturers in India—Foxconn, Wistron (now Tata Electronics), and Pegatron—have already created 80,872 direct jobs. Additionally, broader suppliers such as Tata Group, Salcomp, Motherson, Foxlink in Tamil Nadu, Sunwoda in Uttar Pradesh, Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) in Haryana, and Jabil in Maharashtra have jointly generated around 84,000 direct jobs. Officials highlighted that Apple has emerged as the single largest creator of blue-collar jobs in India over the past few years, with a significant number of employees being women and first-time workers.

An official familiar with the details noted that since the inception of the smartphone PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme in 2020, Apple vendors and suppliers have created approximately 165,000 direct jobs. The PLI scheme had originally aimed to create 200,000 direct jobs over five years through ten selected firms, but Apple’s ecosystem has reached this target within four years.

Further expansion is expected as Tata Group’s twin facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, gears up to hire around 50,000 employees over time. According to officials, the iPhone manufacturing unit, established alongside Tata’s enclosure manufacturing plant, is set to begin commercial production in October, with plans to increase manufacturing capacity in phases.

Government estimates suggest that three indirect jobs are generated for every direct job in the electronics sector. This means that Apple’s expanding ecosystem in India could create between 500,000 and 600,000 jobs by the end of the fiscal year. When the PLI scheme was announced in 2020, it targeted 200,000 direct jobs, a goal that has now been achieved well ahead of schedule.

Apple’s strategy in India mirrors its successful model in China, where the company is believed to have created over 4 million jobs in the manufacturing and app development ecosystem over the last 25 years. Apple is India’s first global value chain (GVC) to rapidly shift part of its supply chain from China. The company began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2021, marking its first production venture outside China. Since then, iPhone production in India has steadily increased through Apple’s three contract manufacturers, reaching a value of INR 1.20 lakh crore in FY24, with INR 85,000 crore worth of exports.

The recent Economic Survey highlights that India now contributes approximately 14% to Apple’s global production, emerging as a key hub for the company’s exports. This share has doubled from around 7% in FY23.

Tamil Nadu has played a crucial role in this growth, with nearly 90,000 direct jobs expected from iPhone and component factories operated by Foxconn and Tata. The state has become a leader in the electronics manufacturing sector. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin recently inaugurated a large industrial housing complex built for INR 706.5 crore. The complex will accommodate around 18,720 workers, primarily women employed at the Foxconn iPhone factory in Sriperumbudur.

Beyond Sriperumbudur, Apple’s vendors and suppliers plan additional housing complexes for their employees, facilitated through public-private partnerships. Most of these housing units are being constructed by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT), with the Tata Group and SPR India also involved in building homes for the workforce.

Source: Economic Times