Tata Group Completes Acquisition of Wistron's iPhone Manufacturing Plant

Tata Electronics on Thursday completed the acquisition of Wistron's iPhone manufacturing facility in Karnataka's Narasapura industrial area, making the Tata Group the first Indian conglomerate to directly manufacture Apple products. The deal, valued at approximately $125 million, includes the factory, equipment, and workforce of about 10,000 employees.

Strategic Implications

The acquisition positions Tata as a major player in global electronics manufacturing, joining the ranks of Foxconn and Pegatron as Apple's assembly partners. The Narasapura plant currently produces the iPhone 15 and iPhone SE models, with plans to upgrade production lines for the latest iPhone 17 series by next year.

Tata has committed an additional investment of $500 million over the next three years to expand the facility's capacity from 5 million to 15 million units annually. The company is also building a new greenfield factory in Tamil Nadu's Hosur that will begin iPhone production by mid-2027.

"This is a transformative moment for India's manufacturing ecosystem. If we can make the world's most sophisticated consumer electronics device at scale, we can make anything," said Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran at a press conference in Bengaluru.

The Indian government has been actively courting Apple's supply chain as part of its Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. India now accounts for approximately 14% of global iPhone production, up from less than 1% five years ago. The government aims to increase this to 25% by 2028, which would make India Apple's second-largest manufacturing hub after China.