Apple’s proposal to sell refurbished iPhones in India officially rejected by the Commerce Ministry


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The Indian Government has officially rejected Apple’s proposal to sell refurbished iPhones in India, as per a latest PTI report. A report earlier this month had cited a telecom ministry official over the rejection of Apple’s plan on refurbished phones. However, this time the Commerce Ministery has revealed that it is not in favour of Apple’s plans.

“We are not in favour of any company selling used phones in the company, however certified they may be,” commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The minister also said that the Commerce Ministry was not against waiving the 30 percent local sourcing norm for Apple, but was met with opposition from the Finance Ministry. Last week, the iPhone and iPad maker did not get exemption from 30% local sourcing condition for retail stores in India. The minister further stated that her department is in talks with finance ministry to reconsider Apple Inc’s foreign direct investment proposal.

Speaking about her position on Apple’s proposal, Sitharaman said,

We are not talking about changing the rule for manufacturing. We are just saying let’s be clear on single-brand retailing. Why do we want to have something which is not going to change in any way the parameter in the market and therefore we want to explain it out to the Finance Ministry.

Apple has been striving for a long time to open its retail stores in India. The iPhone and iPad maker had filed a proposal with DIPP at the beginning of this year following which the company resubmitted the proposal with necessary changes and additions in March.

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Author: Sneha Bokil

Sneha Bokil is a tech enthusiast and is currently using OnePlus 3T but she still treasures her Nokia N70 (M). You can follow her on Twitter @snehabokil and on Google+