Apple businessImage source, Apple
Image caption, Five percent of iPhone 14 production is expected to shift to India this year

Apple plans to make its latest phone model in India, a significant milestone in the company's strategy to manufacture outside of China.

Five percent of the production of the phone is expected to go to the country this year, much sooner than analysts had anticipated.

According to analysts at JP Morgan, 25% of the company's products could be made in India.

In Tamil Nadu, Apple has been making phones.

The decision to make their flagship model in India is noteworthy as trade tensions between Beijing and Washington continue.

The global supply chain is de-risking because of China's zero- Covid policy.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Apple has been manufacturing iPhones in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu since 2017

Supply chain disruptions have been caused by Beijing's hard-line approach to eradicate the Pandemic.

Global firms are increasingly using a "plus one" strategy to re-orient their supply chains.

"Companies are no longer willing to sit and wait for a policy change in China, or put their eggs in one basket for their sourcing needs," said Oscar De Bok, CEO of the supply chain business.

"They want to make sure they have two or three alternatives, that's why they're outsourcing," said Mr De Bok.

Mr De Bok was in India's financial capital Mumbai to announce an investment to double the warehousing capacity of his company.

He said that this commitment was driven by the growth of foreign investment in sectors such as manufacturing and electronics where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been offering financial incentives to companies that want to make India their production hub.

As part of this production-linked incentives scheme, mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources has earmarked investments of close to $20 billion to set up a Semiconductor plant in India in collaboration with the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant.

India is clearly in a sweet spot and the world is looking to adopt a "China plus one" strategy, according to the Chairman of the company.

India, which is Asia's third largest economy, is trying to position itself as an attractive manufacturing and exports hub for multinational companies.

There is a large domestic market and low cost talent.

India has been one of the better performing major economies this year, with a GDP growth in the range of 6 to 7 percent.

After being stagnant at $300 billion for nearly a decade, merchandise exports have crossed the $400 billion mark.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Asia has a surplus of low-cost talent

Along with fiscal sops, Mr Modi's administration has been giving a lot of push to bilateral trade pacts in a bid to integrate India more deeply into global supply chains.

These initiatives have been warmly received by businesses.

India's approach to trade liberalisation has been one step back.

The rush to sign free trade agreements to improve market access and reduce tariffs has been accompanied by cries of self-reliance and duties going up on at least 3000 items.

Many foreign companies complain about the lack of a level playing field and protectionist policies.

India's byzantine bureaucracy makes it difficult for small and medium-sized companies to navigate. Land acquisition and licensing reforms have been difficult to implement. The infrastructure is a sticking point.

"Apple is certainly a success story so far but making India a manufacturing hub will require not just big-ticket headline grabbing investments but also a supportive environment for small and medium enterprises," says MihirSharma, Director at the Observer Research Foundation.

It's too early to know if these investments will be sustainable over time.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of India's economy

The majority of India's workforce is employed by small and medium enterprises, which have been left out of the fiscal incentives scheme.

"Except for textiles and apparel, the scheme doesn't cover other labour intensive manufacturing industries which could enable India to meaningfully leverage the plus-one strategy of export-led growth and create jobs for the 12 million Indians joining the workforce every year," he says.

India needs to upskill its workforce and create a more welcoming business climate in order to compete with other Asian economies.

Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea are ranked higher than India in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. Vietnam has created a master plan to build an infrastructure corridor.

Despite these challenges, India is in a better position than ever before to leverage this historic opportunity.

As the US and its allies decouple from China, certain southern states in India are poised to develop a critical mass in manufacturing.

The states are likely to have a competitive federalism.

India could benefit from Taiwanese tech companies moving capacity to the country in order to take advantage of cheap talent.

Is this a turning point?

India never misses an opportunity according to one of my Indian friends. "But I believe this time it is different."