Apple plants may yield 600,000 jobs in India by March

Apple‘s ecosystem in India is expected to spawn as many as 600,000 jobs by this fiscal-end, reflecting the runaway expansion in operations of the iPhone maker in the country in its efforts to diversify production from China.

Apple’s Indian workforce will comprise 200,000 direct jobs being created by March-end with women making up a dominant 70%, according to estimates and data submitted by the company as well as its suppliers to the government.

Officials told ET that Apple’s three contract manufacturers in India-Foxconn, Wistron (now Tata Electronics) and Pegatron-have so far created 80,872 direct jobs, while broader suppliers including the Tata Group, Salcomp, Motherson, Foxlink in Tamil Nadu, Sunwoda in Uttar Pradesh, and ATL in Haryana and Jabil in Maharashtra have jointly created around 84,000 direct jobs.

Officials say the Cupertino-based smartphone maker has become the single largest blue-collared job creator in India over the last few years, with most of the employees being women and first-timers.

“Overall, Apple vendors and suppliers have created around 165,000 direct jobs since the inception of smartphone PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme (in 2020),” an official privy to the details said.

PLI scheme target met in four years
In addition, Tata Group’s twin facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu is expected to hire around 50,000 employees over time.The iPhone manufacturing unit, set up alongside the group’s enclosure manufacturing plant, will start commercial production of iPhones this October, and the manufacturing capacity will be increased in phases, said officials.The government estimates that for every direct job in the electronics sector, three indirect jobs are generated, which means that the Apple ecosystem could create anywhere between 500,000 and 600,000 jobs by March-end.

Apple, Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron didn’t respond to ET’s queries.

When the smartphone PLI scheme was announced in 2020, it targeted the creation of 200,000 direct jobs. While the scheme had envisaged the job creation by 10 selected firms over a five-year period, the Apple ecosystem has achieved the target in four years, officials pointed out.

Replicating China model
As per an expert, Apple has replicated its China model in India, in terms of building the entire ecosystem, leading to large scale job creation. The company is believed to have created over 4 million jobs in China’s manufacturing and app development ecosystem over the last 25 years, industry experts said.

Apple is the first global value chain (GVC) in India to rapidly shift a part of its supply chain to the country from China.

Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2021, the first time it was doing so outside China. Ever since, iPhone production in India has been rising steadily through Apple’s three contract manufacturers, reaching Rs 1.20 lakh crore in FY24, of which Rs 85,000 crore was exported. To be sure, the production and exports numbers consider the freight on board (FOB) value at which a device leaves the factory. Retail prices are about 60% higher.

According to the recent Economic Survey, India currently contributes about 14% to the US tech giant’s overall production, emerging as a key hub for its global exports. The share doubled from about 7% in FY23.

Banking on Tamil Nadu
As per an industry executive, of the 200,000 direct jobs, nearly 90,000 are expected to come from iPhone and component factories of Foxconn and the Tatas in Tamil Nadu. The state has emerged as a champion in the electronics manufacturing sector. Recently, a mega industrial housing facility built at a cost of Rs 706.5 crore was inaugurated by the state’s chief minister MK Stalin. The housing complex will accommodate around 18,720 workers, primarily women working in the Foxconn iPhone factory.

Apart from the housing complex in Sriperumbudur, Apple’s vendors and suppliers are planning to build housing complexes for their staff in other locations also through a public-private partnership model. Most of the housing units are being built by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT). The Tata Group and SPR India are also building homes.