In 2014 we posted a report about Apple being blocked by the Indian Government to open flagship Apple Stores. The bottom line from the Government was simple. Manufacture Apple products in India and Apple would be given the right to open their own stores. A new Indian report today claims that when Apple's CEO Tim Cook met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September that he requested "an easing of the sourcing rules" according to two persons with knowledge of this. If Foxconn ever opens an iPhone plant in India as rumored, this would most definitely pave the way to open a series of Apple Stores throughout India. But until all of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, Apple is trying to bring their classic Apple Store experience to India with a new partnership revealed today.

Apple has added another major distributor in India called Infinity Retail (part of the Conglomerate Tata Group) which owns Croma. The pilot program will involve six prime locations, five in Mumbai alone that will create a store-within-a-store Apple experience with the traditional Apple wooden tables and full range of products.

According to the report, "The store design, furniture, fixtures and lighting will the same as that used in Apple stores globally and the sales staff will also be trained by the Apple."

Last December we reported that Apple was supporting a new franchise of 500 iOS stores in India.

In the end, Apple's Tim Cook meeting with the Indian Prime Minister last month was a positive sign that Apple could be closer to entering a more aggressive phase in the Indian market. Yet until their big breakout plan goes into action, Apple is continually striving to expand their retail network and their new partnership with Infinity retail is yet another major move. Considering that Croma has 97 stores across the country with 3.8 million customers – there's obviously a lot of headroom for expanding the store-within-a-store program over the next few years if the initial stores prove to be successful.

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