People are seen outside the main gate of the Pegatron facility near Chennai, India. — Reuters file

India's Tata Electronics has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron's sole iPhone plant in India, forming a new joint venture that bolsters Tata's role as an Apple supplier, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters.

Under the agreement announced internally last week, Tata will hold 60% and manage daily operations under the joint venture, while Pegatron will retain the remaining stake and offer technical support, said the two sources, who requested anonymity as the details have not been made public. The sources did not provide specifics on the financial aspects of the deal.

Tata declined to comment, and Apple and Pegatron did not respond to Reuters inquiries on Sunday.

Reuters first reported in April that Pegatron, with Apple's support, was in advanced discussions to sell its only iPhone plant in India to Tata, signaling the Taiwanese firm's latest move to scale back its partnership with Apple.

Apple is increasingly seeking to diversify its supply chain beyond China due to geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. For Tata, the acquisition of the Chennai Pegatron plant will enhance its iPhone manufacturing capabilities.

Tata, one of India's largest conglomerates, has been rapidly expanding into iPhone manufacturing, competing with Foxconn, the only other iPhone contract manufacturer operating in India.

The announcement of the deal's completion was made internally at the iPhone plant on Friday, according to the first source.

The second source mentioned that the two companies plan to seek approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the coming days.

Tata already operates an iPhone assembly plant in the southern state of Karnataka, which it acquired from Taiwan's Wistron last year. It is also constructing another plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, where it already has an iPhone component plant that experienced a fire incident in September.

Analysts predict that India will account for 20-25% of total iPhone shipments this year, up from 12-14% last year.

The Tata-Pegatron plant, which employs around 10,000 workers and produces 5 million iPhones annually, will be Tata's third iPhone factory in India.

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