Apple, the manufacturer of iPhone and iPad has resubmitted the application to open single brand retail stores in India as there are some gaps in the previous proposal. As per an official, this proposal is current under process by the DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has also submitted an application for the purpose.
Apple filed the proposal to get permission for opening single brand retail stores and also to sell its offerings online in January. Due to the gaps in this application that was filed, DIPP sought more details from the tech giant based in the US.
As per the sources familiar with this matter state that the government might exempt Apple from the mandatory local sourcing standard of 30 percent as it makes cutting edge and state of the art technology products.
In 2015, the government relaxed the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) policy for the single brand retailing. The government stated that it might also relax the sourcing standards for the entities that undertake single brand retailing of their products that have cutting edge and state of the art technology and wherever the local sourcing is impossible.
Moreover, the sources stated that Xiaomi has also submitted an application to open its single brand retail stores in India. As of now, Xiaomi sells its products through offline and e-commerce platforms as well. The single brand retailers can take the e-commerce route for trading. Right now, 100 percent FDI is allowed in this sector. However, the firms need to take FIPB permission in case the limit crosses 49 percent.
The company retails its products via Apple owned retail stores in many countries such as the US, the UK, France, Germany, and China. Apple has no store in the country that is owned by it and it sells its offerings via distributors including Ingram Micro and Redington.
