India-based Tata Group has announced its plans to construct a new assembly plant for US technology company Apple’s iPhones in the country.

The factory is set to become one of India’s largest iPhone assembly plants, reported Bloomberg, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

The plan is understood to be part of Apple’s efforts to cut its manufacturing reliance on China and subsequently increase production in India.

Within two years, the facility is set to encompass 20 assembly lines and employ 50,000 people.

The sources further told the media company that Tata intends to build the facility in Hosur within the country's southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The facility is expected to become operational within 12 to 18 months.

It is said to be larger than the facility that Tata acquired from Wistron but smaller than Taiwanese company Foxconn Technology Group’s largest China factories.

Recently, Tata completed the acquisition of Wistron's manufacturing facility near Bengaluru in Karnataka, also in India. The plant employs approximately 10,000 people to assemble the iPhone 14 model.

The acquisition made Tata the first Indian company to assemble iPhone models in the country.

Foxconn, the main supplier of Apple, announced its plans in August to construct two component factories in India with an investment of $500m.