Govt not sure on concessions to Apple

Days after Apple announced it would set up a manufacturing unit in Bengaluru, the government on Monday said that there was no decision yet on certain ‘exceptional concessions’ sought by the company.

This was revealed at a post-Budget press conference held by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

To a query on Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia’s remark that concessions sought by the iPhone manufacturer will not fit into the proposed GST regime, she said, “What he (Adhia) added was that when GST comes, it will be difficult to accommodate any exceptional demand.”

Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek said that his department has moved the requests made by Apple to concerned ministries and departments including the Department of Revenue, but they were yet to discuss the same.

“We had a meeting of all the concerned ministries and departments (on demands made by Apple), and we have asked them to look at those issues and take a view. No ministry has yet taken a final decision on any of those. But we are in touch with them,” he said.

Abhishek said the government supported all manufacturing, including high-value manufacturing by companies in the country. “We are coordinating response from all the concerned ministries, but no final view has been taken yet on any of those,” he said. He, however, said the government does not take any policy decision for a particular company.
“Decision is taken for everyone. So no company-specific decision can be taken,” he said.

Among other things, Apple has demanded a 15-year custom duty exemption on manufacturing and raw materials, components and capital equipment for smartphone manufacturing in India.