iPhone

Osaka: Smartphone giant Apple’s dream to set up its own stores India may not become a reality. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has thrown his support behind Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) decision making 30 per cent local sourcing mandatory for single-brand retailers.

Jaitley, who is in Japan, said that India can't be a nation of traders. He, however, suggested that the final word hadn't been said on Apple's application to set up its own stores.

The Finance Minister also made it clear that the FIPB, which comes under his Ministry, won't be abolished as long as government approvals were needed for overseas investment proposals.

“As long as government approval is required, you need a body. There are some sectors where you need approval. Its role has come down,” he said.

Earlier, reports had suggested that the FIPB may be phased out to ease overseas investment rules.

Jaitley’s remark came in the wake of reports suggesting that the American multinational had threatened to exit India because of the Finance Ministry’s decision not to give it a local sourcing waiver.

The iPhone maker had sought exemption from the local sourcing norms as the US-based giant makes state-of-the-art and a cutting-edge technology product for which local sourcing is not possible. Single-brand retailers are also allowed to take e-commerce route for such trading.

As per the FIPB decision, Apple needs to procure 30 per cent of components locally if it wants to sell through its own retail stores. The idea behind this norm was to create jobs in the country.

Apple CEO, who was in India on a maiden visit last week, had said that the company seeks to capitalize on the market’s prospects and revive its growth. He had also expressed desire to import refurbished iPhones to India in order to make such phones available at an affordable price to Indian consumers.

The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.

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