The current Govt stance is 'Make in India', meaning if a foreign company needs to sell a product they need to manufacture it in the country. If it is imported and then sold in the internal market, they straight put a high amount of import tax (can go above 100%).
That is why Musk is having problem selling his imported Tesla's at a cheaper rate even if it is a eco-friendly product.
Approximately, imported iphone 12 currently will be around $1000 and the one made in the country can go as low as $700 to match the international price.
> The current Govt stance is 'Make in India', meaning if a foreign company needs to sell a product they need to manufacture it in the country.
The stated goal of the Make in India campaign was "to transform India into a global design and manufacturing export hub." The reality is the share of exports in the economy shrunk since 2014.
The dear leader then embarked upon the ~Juche~ AatmaNirbhar path and now wants foreign companies to set up manufacturing in India and is offering production linked incentives in handpicked industries. FWIW, it seems to be working. But whether focusing on capital intensive prestige manufacturing instead of labour intensive industries is the right approach remains to be seen.
And protectionism has been the hallmark of Indian economic policy since independence. High tarriffs on luxury goods like mobile phones or cars is not even remotely new.
I think so, although my understanding was that historically Apple has focused on doing older phone models in India because they didn't think the market made sense for the newest devices (and/or because they didn't think the manufacturing capabilities were up to snuff) so if they're doing manufacturing of the newest models, I think it's a positive signal either for Apple's diversification, India's growing consumer purchasing power, or India's increased manufacturing capabilities.
