Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and affirmed the company’s commitment to deepening and broadening its manufacturing and technology base through investments and partnership with India. He also met communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

“Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India’s future — from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we’re committed to growing and investing across the country,” Cook tweeted after meeting Modi.

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“An absolute delight to meet you, Tim Cook. Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India,” Modi said in reply to Cook’s tweet.

Cook, who will conclude his India tour on Friday, last visited the country in 2016. At that time, Apple was looking to establish itself in the country and was also seeking a licence to set up its own retail stores. Even the manufacturing plans were at the nascent stage.

In calendar year 2022, the company clocked a market share of around 5%, up from nearly 1-2% several years back, according to analysts. Lately, Apple started assembling its iPhones in the country through its contract manufacturers — Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron — and even recorded strong growth in its smartphone shipments.

With two retail stores now in Mumbai and Delhi, the company is also looking to expand its market share and appeal to premium consumers.
“Met with Tim Cook, CEO, Apple. Discussed deepening Apple’s engagement in India across manufacturing, electronics exports, app economy, skilling, sustainability and job creation especially for women. Jointly charting a long-term and strong relationship,” Vaishnaw tweeted.

Owing to the government’s production-linked incentive scheme, Apple’s iPhone exports from India crossed a record `40,000 crore in FY23. In fact, when other markets did not perform well for the company, Apple has been witnessing strong growth in India due to an increase in demand for premium smartphones.

Also Read: Apple eyes bigger India pie

“It was a delight to meet Tim Cook, CEO, Apple and his team to engage on Apple’s strategic and long-term partnership with and in India’s digital journey. We discussed deepening and broadening manufacturing, exports, skilling of youth, expanding app and innovation economy and job creation,” Chandrasekhar tweeted.

Over the last 24 months, Apple generated over 100,000 new direct jobs in manufacturing and 70% of them are women, Chandrasekhar tweeted on Tuesday. In India, Apple currently has a workforce of 2,500.

According to industry estimates and media reports, Apple’s sales from India rose nearly 45% to $6 billion in FY23, hitting a record high.