Apple seeks Indian suppliers, begins talks with Bharat Forge for component manufacturing: Report

Apple is in talks with Kalyani Group's Bharat Forge to make it one of its vendors in India, according to a report in The Economic Times. If the talks come to fruition, Bharat Forge will be responsible for manufacturing components for the Cupertino-based tech giant, putting it on a par with Tata Group, Motherson Group and Aequs.

“Apple is looking to work with some of the biggest Indian companies and talks have commenced with Bharat Forge, located in Pune, Maharashtra,” a source was quoted by Economic Times as saying.

Apple's India manufacturing push:

Apple has been busy in expanding its India supply ecosystem over the last couple of years. Reportedly, Apple's local value addition for various models was around 5-8% when it started manufacturing in India at the start of production linked incentive (PLI) scheme in 2020 but that has now risen sharply to a around 20% for various models.

Notably, the tech giant had assembled the vanilla iPhone 15 variant in India but last year it doubled down on the India manufacturing effort and also started the assembly of iPhone 16 Pro models. Apple produced iPhones valuing $17.5 billion in 2024 and also achieved a record $12.8 billion in exports the same year.

Who are the Apple manufacturers in India?

Apple currently has three iPhone assembly plants in India, two in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka. One of the plants in Tamil Nadu is operated by Foxconn, while Apple's other two plants are operated by the Tata Group.

Apple has also encouraged its suppliers from China, Japan, Taiwan and other countries to set up manufacturing units in India. Top suppliers that have started manufacturing in India include Sunwoda (battery packs), Foxlink (cables) and Aequs ( enclosures).

Meanwhile, the report states that one of Apple's largest suppliers, Amperex Technology, will also soon start producing battery cells at a 180-acre plant in Manesar, Haryana.