Apple’s Manufacturing Surge creates more than 250,000 new direct jobs in India

• Apple and partners created over 250,000 direct jobs under the PLI scheme (2021–March 2026).

• More than 70% of new hires are women, many first-time workers aged 19–24.

• Tata and Foxconn generated 140,000 jobs, exceeding initial targets.

• Wages rose nearly 80%, averaging Rs 18,000–20,000 monthly.

• Apple ecosystem supported 750,000 indirect jobs and drove $23 billion in iPhone exports in 2025.

  
  

Over the past five years, Apple Inc. has quietly become one of the most significant generators of blue-collar employment in India. Since the introduction of the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile-phone manufacturing in 2021, the company and its network of partners have created more than 250,000 direct jobs—an achievement that places Apple among the country’s fastest-growing private-sector employers. The PLI programme is scheduled to conclude at the end of March 2026.

Data submitted to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) under both the PLI and Electronics Component Manufacturing (ECM) schemes show that women account for over 70 percent of these new hires. A large share of them are between 19 and 24 years old, many entering the workforce for the first time—marking a notable shift in participation within India’s manufacturing sector.

Apple’s primary iPhone assembly partners in India, the Tata group and Foxconn, have played a central role in this expansion. Together, they have generated around 140,000 direct jobs—well above the 118,290 positions they had originally pledged under the PLI scheme. This figure alone surpasses expectations, given that the government’s overall five-year target for all participating companies was 200,000 new direct jobs.

The remaining 110,000 direct positions have come from a diverse group of Indian, multinational, and joint-venture firms—many of them micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)—that have grown rapidly within Apple’s supplier ecosystem. These companies now operate across eight states: Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Most of these firms provide components to iPhone assembly facilities within India, strengthening the domestic value chain. Others, including Jabil and Aequs, are integrated into Apple’s global supply network and export components abroad. In total, more than 40 companies form part of Apple’s expanding component ecosystem in India. Among the better-known names are Tata Electronics, Hindalco, Bharat Forge, VVDN Technologies, Wipro PARI, Salcomp, Motherson Group, Sunwoda Electronic, Foxlink, SFO Technologies and TEAL.

Employment numbers at major facilities highlight the scale of operations. Foxconn, which significantly ramped up its Indian production from FY22 onward, now employs over 70,000 workers across two plants. The Tata group, operating three iPhone manufacturing sites, has built a workforce of roughly 72,000.

A defining feature of this hiring drive has been the industry-led approach to workforce development. Companies have largely managed recruitment and skills training independently, without direct financial or technical support from the government. New employees typically undergo several weeks of structured instruction before transitioning to production roles. As a result of heightened demand for skilled shop-floor labour, average monthly wages in mobile manufacturing have risen sharply—from approximately Rs 11,000 before the PLI initiative to between Rs 18,000 and Rs 20,000 today. Entry-level blue-collar wages have climbed by nearly 80 percent compared with pre-PLI levels.

The broader employment impact extends well beyond direct hiring. Government projections had suggested that indirect job creation in mobile manufacturing could reach around 600,000—about three times the number of direct roles—by the end of the PLI period. Estimates indicate that Apple’s ecosystem alone has exceeded that benchmark, supporting roughly 750,000 indirect jobs across logistics, services, ancillary manufacturing and related sectors.

This employment expansion has coincided with a dramatic shift in India’s export profile. In calendar year 2025, smartphone exports from India reached $30 billion, with iPhones contributing $23 billion—about 76 percent of the total. Over the past decade, smartphones have surged from being the country’s 167th-largest export category to becoming its single largest export between 2015 and 2025.

Taken together, the surge in jobs, wage growth, supplier development and export performance underscores how Apple’s manufacturing footprint has reshaped India’s electronics landscape. As the PLI scheme approaches its conclusion in March 2026, the scale of this transformation suggests that India’s role in Apple’s global supply chain—and in high-volume electronics manufacturing more broadly—has become firmly established.