As Donald Trump was preparing to take office for the first time in 2017, Priyank Kharge was busy making calls to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, from Bengaluru, the city known as India’s Silicon Valley.
With the US president threatening to unleash a wave of tariffs against China, Kharge, the information technology minister of the southern state of Karnataka, seized the opportunity to woo one of the world’s biggest companies. His mission was to convince Apple, whose manufacturing fortunes are prominently tied to China, to set up its first iPhone production plant in India.
The official touted Karnataka’s rich talent pool and sweeteners, such as tax breaks, that Apple could tap if it started making iPhones there. Other states, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, were also courting the iPhone maker.