Samsung and Apple’s manufacturing partners Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, among other smartphone producers, have applied for India’s $6.6 billion smartphone manufacturing incentive programme, according to Tech Crunch.

The ‘Production-Linked Incentive Scheme’ offers a 6% financial incentive on the sales of goods that are produced locally over the five years from 2019/20.

This strategy aims to transform India into a global hub of tech manufacturing.

In total, 22 companies have applied for the incentive, including India’s own Micromax and Lava have also applied to the scheme.

Applicant companies have agreed to export 60% of their locally made devices outside the country, according to the IT Minister of India, Ravi Shankar Prasad. They have also agree to provide approximately 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs.

A total of 22 companies both Indian and International have filed applications under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
These companies will produce mobile phones and components worth Rs 11.5 lakh crore in the coming 5 years.https://t.co/bMxRU93w0j pic.twitter.com/uBvbT3zRJp

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 2, 2020

“Apple and Samsung, India welcomes you with attractive policies. Now expand your presence in the country,” Prasad said.

Last month Foxconn began producing the iPhone 11 in the country, marking the first time an Apple supplier was assembling a current iPhone model in India.

It was also revealed that none of China’s major smartphone brands had applied to the incentive program – which is unsurprising given the escalating tensions between the two countries.