An iconic visit has to be celebrated with a stay at an equally iconic place. No wonder then that Team Apple chose one of Mumbai’s most iconic hotels and heritage buildings for Tim Cook’s stay at India’s financial capital, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
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Cook is expected to touchdown in Mumbai around 11.45pm in a private jet and is expected to head straight to the hotel, where the Grand Luxury Suite in the Heritage Wing of the iconic hotel has already been reserved for him. The stay at the suite, with room sizes ranging between 700-1,300sq.ft will cost Cook a whopping Rs 87,000 per night, not that he can’t pay it! This will the first visit for any top Apple executive. Cook’s predecessor and Apple’s famous founder, Steve Jobs, never considered India a primary investment destination.
In Mumbai, the Apple team is expected to meet Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood, members of the startup community to discuss and understand the potential for developing iOS applications in India and also top executives of India's largest conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. A meeting with Reliance’s owner and India’s second richest person, Mukesh Ambani, has still not been confirmed.
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Cook will also be visiting Hyderabad on May 19 and New Delhi on May 20 and 21, to meet Indian PM Narendra Modi.
In Hyderabad, Cook would be meeting Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, while also visiting the location of Apple’s new technology development centre. In Hyderabad, Cook would be meeting Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, while also visiting the location of Apple’s new technology development centre. The centre, touted as Apple’s key research and development hub in Asia is located at a business complex called the WaveRock, built by real estate developers, Tishman Speyer. The centre that will house a building spread across 1mn sq ft is expected to be completed by the end of 2016 and the entire 2.5 lakh sq. Ft centre is expected to become functional by early 2017.
While in Delhi, Cook and his team will be staying at The Leela Palace hotel in Chanakyapuri.
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In the capital city, besides meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, May 21, he will meet the Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal on May 20. Mittal runs India’s largest telecom service operator, Airtel, which is also Asia’s third largest telecommunications company.
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His talks with Modi are expected to include discussions about opening single brand retail stores in India, which is due for a governmental clearance soon. For Apple, the Indian authorities are waiving off a contentious clause in the policy to allow 100% owned single brand retail stores in India, which required owners to source atleast 30% of the material from the country. Talks with the Indian PM are also expected to include India’s decision to refuse Apple from selling refurbished iPhones in India. Cook is expected to fly out the same day.
Cook who took charge of Apple in August 2011, was chosen to take over by Steve Jobs. He holds an MBA from Duke University and Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Auburn University.
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