Ravi Prakash Kumar | 24 July 2020 | The Live Mint.

This is the first time Apple has manufactured a top-of-the-line model in India.

In a major win for the govt’s Aatamnirbhar India initiative, Apple has started manufacturing of one of its flagship devices, the iPhone 11, at Chennai’s Foxconn plant. This is the first time Apple has manufactured a top-of-the-line model in India.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced the news on Twitter on Friday. Goyal wrote, “Significant boost to Make in India! Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country.”

Prior to this, the Cupertino-based tech giant had started assembling the iPhone XR in India in 2019. In 2017, Apple had started the domestic manufacturing of the Apple iPhone SE 2016 in the Bangalore plant.

Apple also has plans to make the iPhone SE 2020 in India in its Wistron plant near Bangalore.

Earlier this month, Foxconn, which is a leading supplier for Apple has planned to invest up to $1 billion to expand its India factory where it assembles iPhone models. Pegatron — the second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn — was also reported to make some investment in the country and set up a local subsidiary in the coming future.