Bengaluru: Union Minister for IT and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday revealed that nine of the 11 manufacturing units that make iPhones for Apple have shifted from China to India.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 23rd edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit held virtually, he said that even during the pandemic period, "nine of their operating units along with component makers were shifted from China to India.”

The Union minister, while addressing the summit held virtually, told Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa that the iPhone maker has chosen Bengaluru for manufacturing iPhones. "I am pleased to inform Yediyurappa that Apple has chosen your city Bengaluru to manufacture their quality phones for India and abroad," Prasad added.

Prasad had said earlier that Samsung, Foxconn, Rising Star, Wistron and Pegatron were filing applications under the PLI scheme.

It is pertinent to note that in a major impetus to the central government's Make in India initiative, Apple began manufacturing its flagship iPhone 11 at the Foxconn plant near Chennai in July. Notably, it was the first time that a top-of-the-line iPhone was being made in India. Apple also started assembling the iPhone SE at Foxconn's Chennai plant this year.

Apple's supplier Wistron already has a manufacturing facility in Kolar near Bengaluru where it has been producing Apple devices. Wistron is reportedly expanding its operations at the Bengaluru plant under the Union Government's production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) and will soon begin assembling iPhone 12.

The iPhone maker also uses the Foxconn production plant to manufacture its iPhone XR in the country. With this, the Cupertino-based tech giant has joined the likes of Samsung and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi that have already invested crores to manufacture devices in India and cater to the growing demands of the users. Notably, Taiwan-headquartered Foxconn also manufactures devices for Xiaomi at its Andhra Pradesh manufacturing facility.