Chennai: Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn will begin from July the commercial production of iPhone X range of smartphones for Apple from its 160-acre factory off Chennai, people aware of Foxconn's India plans told ET ."Foxconn will begin with the iPhoneX (range) from the Chennai plant. The plans are to step up production capacity and diversify to even higher models going forward," said an official privy to the company's plans, on conditions of anonymity.Sustained increase in manufacturing will depend on, among other factors, the continuation of a favourable incentive regime into the next government, the official said. Mails sent to Foxconn and Apple seeking comment remained unanswered.The company began its India manufacturing journey through another Taiwanese company Wistron, which had started with the iPhone SE from its factory near Bengaluru two years ago and later advanced to iPhone 6S model. Wistron now makes iPhone 7, a sign analysts foresee as a bump-up in local manufacture of multinational technology companies keen on the Indian market. Around 290 million smartphones were assembled in India in 2018 up from 58 million in 2014, according to data from the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association."In the short-term, the Differential Duty and the Phased Manufacturing Programme worked as far as import substitution is concerned. Now the challenge is to move from 290 million to 500 million phones and then to one billion by 2025," Pankaj Mohindroo, National president for ICEA, said."The National Policy on Electronics, 2019, gives a broad framework, but we will have to put a robust action plan behind it, which will enable exports..."The ICEA has as its members brands such as Apple, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and manufacturers such as Flex and Foxconn.Foxconn had signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government for premium smartphones manufacturing during the Global Investors Meet conducted in Chennai in January. This was considered a breakthrough for the Southern state after it saw electronics manufacturing struggle following the closure of the Nokia plant four years ago. Tamil Nadu Government officials refused to comment.Analysts anticipate a price cut in certain iPhone models as Apple ramps up local manufacture in India."A drop in prices is likely but there are more chances of Apple slahing prices of the old-generation models like the Iphone7 or the next one than the latest range," said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director and Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Apple slashed rates of all three variants of the iPhone XR by up to 22% last week.