FILE PHOTO: Tata Electronics said it has bought a 60% stake in Pegatron’s India unit that operates an iPhone plant.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Tata Electronics said on Friday it has bought a 60% stake in Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron’s India unit that operates an iPhone plant, beefing up the Tata group firm’s position as an Apple supplier in a fast growing market.

The stake acquisition in Pegatron Technology India is for Apple Inc’s iPhone plant near the southern city of Chennai, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Tata Electronics and Pegatron did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Tata Electronics did not reveal financial terms of the deal.

The company will now have two plants in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and one in neighbouring Karnataka, which it took over from Taiwan’s Wistron last year.

Apple is increasingly looking to diversify its supply chain beyond China amid geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Last April, Reuters reported that Pegatron had the backing of Apple and was in advanced talks to sell its only iPhone plant in India to Tata as the Taiwanese firm looked to scale back its partnership with Apple.

Tata, one of the largest conglomerates in India, has been expanding into iPhone manufacturing, rivaling Foxconn, the only other iPhone contract manufacturer operating in India.

India’s competition regulator earlier in January approved Tata Electronics’ plan to buy a stake in Pegatron Technology India.