Retail in Asia

In Trends

Apple to set up own retail outlets soon as India may waive 30pc sourcing norm

Apple may soon get to open its own retail outlets in India as the government is set to waive the requirement of mandatory domestic sourcing for Apple, The Times of India reported on Friday.

The company has sought an approval from the Centre to waive sourcing norms on grounds of providing “state-of-the-art” and “cutting edge technology”.

On Tuesday, the company made a presentation to a panel headed by Ramesh Abhishek, secretary of industrial policy and promotion. “Their products certainly meet the requirement for waiving the local sourcing clause,” a source told the publication. A final decision is likely to be announced in a few days, the report added.

The current policy requires mandatory sourcing of 30 percent of the goods from within the country. This was proving to be a major hurdle for Apple as its market did not have vendors to meet this need.