In February, Patently Apple posted a report titled “India's Tata Group is in advanced talks with Pegatron to form a partnership to run a new iPhone Assembly Plant in Southern India.” Then in April we posted a follow-up report titled “Tata Group's negotiations to buy a majority stake in Pegatron's only iPhone Assembly Plant in India could be settled by Q4-24.”

It's now Q4 and indeed a deal was struck between the two parties. According to Reuters this morning, India's Tata Electronics has agreed to buy a majority stake in Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron's only iPhone plant in India, forming a new joint venture that strengthens Tata's position as an Apple supplier.

Under the deal announced internally last week, Tata will hold 60% and run daily operations under the joint venture, while Pegatron will hold the rest and provide technical support, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the details are not yet public.

Tata is one of the largest conglomerates in India and has been fast expanding into iPhone manufacturing, rivaling the only other iPhone contract manufacturer operating in India, Foxconn.

The announcement for the deal's closure was made internally at the iPhone plant on Friday, said the first source.

The second source said the two companies plan to file for an approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the coming days.

Tata already operates an iPhone assembly plant in the southern state of Karnataka, which it took over from Taiwan's Wistron (3231.TW), opens new tab last year

The Tata-Pegatron plant, which has around 10,000 employees and makes 5 million iPhones annually, will be Tata's third iPhone factory in India. For more, read the full Reuters report.