Apple contractors want to build a strong manufacturing supply chain in India , similar to their existing operations in China, but are not expected to achieve such economies of scale in the South Asian country anytime soon.

It is reported that only a few electronic component suppliers from China have set up a presence in India to support Apple ‘s major contract manufacturers, such as Foxconn. “Compared to the way large manufacturers such as Foxconn or Wistron shift production, the shift of key component suppliers to India is more challenging,” Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said on Tuesday. “If these parts suppliers have only one customer in the country, it may not be the most economical move to set up shop there.”

Some of the major Chinese component suppliers currently in India , including Shenzhen CSOT, Sunwoda Electronics and Sunny Optical , have managed to grow their businesses in the country, Lam said.

Getting more component suppliers to do business in India is one of the biggest challenges for Apple ‘s main contract manufacturer .

Apple has built a deep supply chain in mainland China for nearly 20 years, and it is not easy for electronic component suppliers and large contract manufacturers to leave China.

Bloomberg estimates that it will take about eight years to move 10% of Apple ‘s production capacity out of China, where about 98% of the company’s iPhones are made.

Chinese manufacturing continues to dominate Apple ‘s supply chain , said Upasana Joshi, research manager for client devices at research firm IDC India . Joshi said in November last year that a mass shift of iPhone production from China to other countries in Asia “doesn’t look like a viable solution” for Apple and its various suppliers at the moment.

Taiwan-based Foxconn has been one of the most aggressive Apple contractors to step up its efforts in India . Earlier this month, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer injected $500 million in cash into its Indian subsidiary Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Giant Development.

New Delhi is reportedly considering ways to make it easier for major electronics contract manufacturers to bring their component supplier networks to the country. India is said to be discussing with some major Apple contract manufacturers whether Chinese component suppliers should be allowed to set up joint ventures in the country , The Times of India reported citing government sources .

Canalys analyst Toby Zhu could not confirm whether such discussions had started, but said that the establishment of certain semiconductor parts [in India ] would be inappropriate given the “lack of full-scale smartphone manufacturing in the country, leading to high local production costs.” The cost of component factories will be huge and technically challenging,” Zhu said.