In early November Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple iPhone Partner Wistron is Reportedly Scouting for 100 Acres of Land in India for a Larger iPhone Plant." Today we're learning that Wistron is now close to finalizing a land deal in India's tech hub of Bengaluru and the firm is likely to invest about $157 million to develop the site.

Reuters reports that "ICT Service Management Solutions, Wistron's unit that assembles Apple's low-cost iPhone SE in India, has been scouting for some 100 acres in and around Bengaluru, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Wistron is likely to use at least a part of this land to set up new assembly lines for Apple, the sources said.

A third source said Apple was likely to start assembling its iPhone 6s models in India via Wistron soon, as it looks to cut costs and diversify its production base beyond greater China.

The 6s models, launched more than two years ago, remain popular in emerging markets such as India as they are cheaper versus Apple's newer iPhone 8 and iPhone X devices.

ICT has recently won federal approval to import machinery from China into India which may be used to set up fresh assembly lines for iPhones, the third source added.

The assembly of iPhone SE in India was a pilot to test waters and it is only logical the line would be expanded, a fourth source said, without giving any details."

Reuters also noted that "Local assembly could help Apple save on import taxes, price phones cheaper and potentially widen its customer base in India."

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