New Delhi: Apple is set to benefit from India’s Union Budget 2026 after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a major change in the tax law for businesses.
Presenting the budget, Sitharaman said that the government, in order to promote manufacturing by a contract manufacturer, it was making a crucial change by not taxing a foreign company merely on the basis of providing machines to its manufacturers.
Union Budget 2026 Full Coverage
The government announced that it will not tax foreign companies who are freely providing machines to their contract manufacturers set up in certain areas for five years. Therefore, the companies can provide machineries to units without fearing any tax risk.
Why This Is a Major Win for Apple?
iPhone maker and technology giant, Apple reportedly has been lobbying in India to tweak income tax laws and ensure that the company is not taxed for the ownership of high-end iPhone machinery that it provides to its contract manufacturers.
Apple had been concerned that if it provided machinery to its manufacturers in India, it would have to pay taxes on its iPhone sales profits, as per the current Indian law.
At present, Foxconn and Tata, who are the contract manufacturers of Apple iPhones, had paid billions of dollars for acquiring machines to manufacture Apple’s electronic goods.
Who All Will Benefit from Govt’s Tax Policy for Businesses?
Factories or industries that have been set up in customs-bonded areas, means plants set up outside India’s customs borders, can avail these. benefits.
However, such units will attract import taxes if devices manufactured out of them are sold within India.
The readout from the Budget 2026 says, “Any income arising on account of providing capital goods, equipment, or tooling to a contract manufacturer, being a company resident in India, is eligible for exemption.”
Sitharaman Presents Rs 53.47 Lakh Crore Budget for FY27
Earlier today, Nirmala Sitharaman presented a Rs 53.47 lakh crore Budget for 2026-27, up 7.7 per cent from the current financial year ending March 31.
As per the Revised Estimate, the size of the Budget for the current fiscal is Rs 49.64 lakh crore, lower from Rs 50.65 lakh crore estimated in February 2025. The Budget for fiscal 2024-25 was at Rs 46.52 lakh crore.
The government estimates its total expenditure at Rs 53.47 lakh crore in the next fiscal.
In 2026-27, the non-debt receipts and the total expenditure are estimated as Rs 36.5 lakh crore and Rs 53.5 lakh crore, respectively. The Centre’s net tax receipts are estimated at Rs 28.7 lakh crore.
With inputs from PTI
