Last year one of the obstacles for Apple which had appeared to have been removed was when retailers were exempted by India to sell goods that was state of the art. This prompted a new application that was filed by the company with the Indian government.

However, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of India had made a recommendation about allowing Apple, to go ahead with their plans of opening retail outlets of the company. This recommendation had been shot by the ministry of Finance as it had been decided that the products of the company did not fall under the category of cutting edge technology products. Recently it was said that the finance ministry and the DIPP are now considering the fact of allowing the company to go ahead and set up their retail stores in the country. It has also been said that the Government is also planning to give leverage on the 30% rule for at least 2‐3 years.

This means that the company will be allowed to also consider the option of opening their manufacturing plant in India. It also allows them to start locally sourcing the components as and when there is an increase in the volume. A source with the Times of India who did not want his identity to be identified said that the Indian Government had been informed by Apple that they already have plans of buying charges from India which will also be exported. They consider that the local production rule as well as three years period is said to be reasonable while the five year term may be long. All these developments have followed after the recent visit of Time Cook the CEO of Apple to India. During his visit, he even met Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister as well as a few business leaders, developers, politicians as well as actors.