India rejects Apple's plans to sell refurbished iPhones, but might agree to Apple Stores

The Indian government has rejected Apple's proposal to sell refurbished iPhones in the country, but said it was considering the company's application seeking a waiver of the mandatory local sourcing rule to open its retail stores.

"We would not be in favour of whatever you may call them -- used but refashioned, remodelled, updated... used goods," commerce and industry minister, Nirmala Sitharaman said. 

However, she said that it could look at relaxing the 30% local sourcing norm required for all foreign single brand retails stores in India for Apple. This rule is exempt for cutting-technology products. 

Last week, the finance ministry's foreign investment promotion board had opposed such a move, asking the iPhone maker to comply by the rule of selling at least 30% of domestically-soured products, if it wanted to open shop in India. The company's request was refused after it did not provide any evidence to support its claim of being a "state of the art" technology product. The two bodies of the finance ministry are expected to consult on the matter before coming to a final decision. 

Apple has been pushing for cheaper refurbished iPhones and opening branded stores in the country, in order to increase its presence in one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets. India was also the only bright spot in Apple's sales in the last quarter, with the country recording 56% growth. 

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