Govt to soon decide on Apple's single brand retail proposal

NEW DELHI: Government will soon take a call on the proposal of iPhone and iPad maker Apple for setting up single brand retail stores in the country.

"We are looking at the proposal and will soon decide about Apple's proposal for setting up of single brand retail," a senior government official said.

The company has sought exemption from the local sourcing norms as the US-based giant makes state-of-the-art and cutting edge technology products for which local sourcing is not possible.

The proposal is being considered by the Finance Ministry as to whether the company can be provided exemption from 30 per cent local sourcing norms for undertaking single brand retailing of products having state-of-the-art and cutting edge technology, the official added.

Single brand retailers are also allowed to take e-commerce route for such trading.

At present, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in the sector. But beyond 49 per cent, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board's (FIPB) permission is required.

The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others.

It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.

In January, Apple had filed proposal seeking permission for single-brand retailing and sell products online but due to certain gaps in the application, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) had sought more information from the US-based technology giant.

As a result, the company again resubmitted its application in March.