Apple's Indian ecosystem emerges as top job creator, employing over 1,50,000 directly since PLI scheme launch
The majority of these are first-time job seekers in the 19-24 years age group, said government officials and experts aware of the details.
Apart from this, about 300,000 people have been employed indirectly, they estimated. Companies that get incentives under the PLI scheme need to submit employment creation data to the government.
In addition to jobs created by contract manufacturers and suppliers, Apple directly employs nearly 3,000 in India, while iOS app development supports more than 1 million jobs, officials said.
Apple's Rev-up in India
«Overall, the Apple ecosystem is likely to have created over 4 lakh jobs (directly and indirectly) in the last 32 months,» an official said. The company didn't respond to queries.
Apple has been doubling down on India — the world's second-largest smartphone market — amid geopolitical tensions, having also witnessed a slump in the key US and China markets.
The Cupertino-based company began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 and scaled up local production in tandem with the PLI scheme. Since then, it has worked with suppliers to assemble the latest iPhone models through its contract manufacturers — Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron — and also produce an increasing number of components locally.
The India unit of Wistron was acquired by Tata group last year from its Taiwanese parent.
The trio, cleared to receive sops under the PLI scheme, created over 77,000 direct jobs, with Foxconn leading at 41,000, followed by Wistron (27,300) and Pegatron (9,200), as per data
