iPhone Li-Ion Battery Cells to Be Made in India by Japan’s TDK, Says MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Japanese electronic parts maker TDK Corp will manufacture lithium ion (li-ion) battery cells for Apple iPhone models in India, a minister said on Monday.

Apple has been touting India as its next big growth driver as it looks to move some production away from China.

It began assembling iPhone models in the country in 2017 through Wistron and later Foxconn, and has a total of 14 suppliers in India.

TDK will set up a manufacturing facility in the northern state of Haryana, creating several thousand new jobs, Deputy Minister for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The news was first reported by Business Standard on Sunday.

Cells manufactured at the facility will be supplied to Apple's li-ion battery assembler Sunwoda Electronics, the report added.

Apple and TDK Corp did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.

Back in September, an executive at Apple supplier Foxconn said that the manufacturer aimed to double its workforce and investment in India by next year. V Lee, Foxconn's representative in India, had said in a LinkedIn post that the company was "aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI (foreign direct investment), and business size in India" by this time next year.

In August, the state of Karnataka said Foxconn will invest $600 million (roughly Rs. 5,001 crore) for two projects in the state to make casing components for iPhones and chip-making equipment. Some $350 million (roughly Rs. 2,890 crore) will go towards setting up the iPhone component unit which will generate 12,000 jobs, while Foxconn will tie up with Applied Materials in a $250 million (roughly Rs. 2,064 crore) project to make chip-making tools, the government had said.

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