The Apple stores — famed for their ambience and unparalleled customer experience — may soon come up in your city. Apple India has filed an application to open its own Apple branded stores in India with the department of industrial policy and promotion ( DIPP ), a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.Confirming the development, DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant said, “We have just received Apple’s proposal. We are examining it.”The maker of iPhones and iPads has not specified how much investment it would make in its application, said the person quoted earlier, adding that it has also sought government approval to sell its products online.The US tech giant’s move stems from the government’s liberalisation of foreign direct investment rules on single-brand retail in November, which included relaxing mandatory local procurement condition for high-tech companies and allowing single-brand licence holders to sell their products directly online.Prior to diluting the FDI norms in November, ET had reported that Apple had sought relaxation of the sourcing norm to set up stores in the country.The earlier policy mandated that companies opting for more than 51% FDI in single brand must source 30% of their products within the country. Also, the earlier policy did not allow single-brand retailers with foreign investment to set up ecommerce portals. Apple currently sells its products through a network of franchisee-owned stores.The company has been increasing its focus on India in recent years and its sales in the country crossed the $1-billion mark for the first time in the year ended March 2015, according to results filed with the Registrar of Companies.According to the filing, Apple posted 44% increase in sales at Rs 6,472.89 crore for 2014-15, up from Rs 4,500.35 crore a year earlier, and its net profit doubled to Rs 242.85 crore from Rs 119.48 crore. The company has aggressively widened its retail network in the country and stepped up marketing efforts, including buyback schemes, instalment payment options and discounts on older products.In 2012, Apple India changed its sales model by appointing retail distributors and began advertising campaigns. Since then its sales have been rising at double-digit pace and the top management of Apple has acknowledged the importance of Indian operations on analyst calls several times.