Apple's iPhone production touches $10 bn mark in India. Courtesy, PLI

Riding high on the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, Apple has achieved a remarkable milestone in India. The tech giant’s iPhone production reached a freight-on-board (FOB) value of $10 billion in the first seven months of FY25 (April-October 2024), Union Minister Ashwinin Vaishnaw shared in a post on X.

Attaching a Business Standard report alongside, which said that this marks a 37% increase compared to the same period in FY24, Vaishnaw hailed the news as a 'milestone'.

He further shared that of the $10 billion, $7 billion worth of iPhones were exported, making it a record-breaking achievement for the company and the country.


This means that nearly 70% of the produced goods were exported, while $3 billion worth of iPhones catered to the domestic market. October 2024 was a historic month for Apple in India, with iPhone production crossing $2 billion in a single month for the first time.

“Yet another milestone for Smartphone PLI Scheme in 7 months: $10 billion iPhone production by Apple with $7 billion exports. Total smartphone exports from Bharat crossed $10.6 billion in seven months,” he said.


Apple’s growth in India aligns with the smartphone PLI scheme introduced by the government in 2020, which incentivizes large-scale electronics manufacturing.

India's smartphone production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has generated 19 times its investment, yielding ₹1.10 lakh crore in revenue for the government. Driven by Apple manufacturers and Samsung, the scheme has boosted production, exports, and jobs, though some local companies have struggled to meet targets.

For Apple's success, three Taiwanese vendors—Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata Electronics (formerly Wistron)—have been instrumental. In the secon quarter, Apple had clocked an all-time revenue record in India. “We continue to be excited by the enthusiasm we're seeing in India, where we set an all-time revenue record. This has been an extraordinary year of innovation at Apple," CEO Tim Cook had said.

The Indian Minister further said that Apple has created as many as 175,000 new direct jobs over the past four years, notably over 72% of these new positions are filled by women.

The PLI scheme, which was effective from FY21, was amended after most beneficiaries, barring Samsung, failed to meet the targets in the first year. Following this, tenure was extended to six years, with the condition that companies can claim benefits for five years of their choice.

The scheme ends in FY26 for every firm, except for Samsung, for which FY25 is the last year. The incentives will be cleared by FY27.