Apple opens first store in Delhi; CEO Tim Cook welcomes customers

Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Thursday welcomed customers at the company's first store opened in the national capital.

Located at Select Citywalk Mall in Delhi, the barricade for Apple Saket features a unique design that takes inspiration from Delhi's many gates. However, the Saket store is smaller than the Apple store opened in Jio World Drive at Bandra Kurla Complex on Tuesday.

The Apple Saket store in Delhi is half the size of the Mumbai store where the company will pay a portion of total sales from the store as rent or Rs 40 lakh per month, whichever is higher, according to sources.

The company has more than 70 highly skilled retail team members at Saket store, who has come from 18 states of India and collectively speak more than 15 languages.

Cook during his visit met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the iPhone manufacturer is looking to invest more in the world's second-largest smartphone market.

According to government sources, the iPhone maker is likely to double the employment base at its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh soon.

Cook, on his first trip to India in seven years, opened Apple's first official retail store in the country in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Cook had last visited India in 2016 when the tech giant was just beginning to scale up operations in the country.

Looking to replicate what China did to Apple's business in the last 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India's massive market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, and potentially make it a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices.

Cook during his visit met Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

As per the sources, Cook has sought government support to widen its components supplier base in India.

Apple CEO is learnt to have also discussed manufacturing facilities and app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru with both ministers.